The Honeyeater
Jessie Tu
The Honeyeater
Jessie Tu
'Translation is longing. You never get it right.'
Young academic and emerging translator Fay takes her mother on a package tour holiday to France to celebrate her birthday. It's a chance for the two of them to take a break from work and have a little fun, but they both find it hard to relax. Her mother seems reluctant to leave their room in the evening, and Fay is working on a difficult translation. On their last night in France, Fay receives the shattering news that her former lover has suddenly died.
Back in Sydney, Fay seeks solace from her mentor, Professor Samantha Egan-Smith, who offers her a spot at a prestigious translation conference in Taipei. But can she trust her? Does the Professor know more than she is admitting, or is Fay being paranoid? When a shocking allegation is made, Fay chooses to keep it secret. Is she protecting the Professor or exercising power over her?
Fay arrives at the conference in Taipei. Career opportunities abound, but it's ghost month in Taiwan. Her mother had begged her not to go at that time, warning that she would be susceptible to dangers and threats. And there is almost nothing a mother won't do to protect her child.
A wildly inventive, chilling and intoxicating story of betrayal, ambition and love, The Honeyeater confirms that Jessie Tu is one of our most original and exciting writers.
Review
Rosalind McClintock
Jessie Tu’s debut, A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, was a runaway success during the difficult year for debut books that was 2020. It was shortlisted that year for the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction, and right from the opening pages of The Honeyeater it’s easy to remember why. Tu’s writing skills are on full display in this ambitious work. Tu sets her readers on course to tackle some big issues alongside her, focussing on the power structures that affect the book’s characters professionally and personally: racism, sexism, family, ego and more.
Tu takes us into the world of our narrator Fay, a young translator whose life revolves around her single mother, who she lives with, her work at the university in the translation department under her seemingly charming mentor and the married man she has recently ended an affair with.
A novel in three parts, the bulk of the first part is set in France, where Fay has brought her mother on a birthday trip, ‘as a romantic offering’. It is a ‘mid-range tour’ as she cannot afford more on her meagre salary, but fortunately her mother is not precious. As Fay takes in the sights of France and works diligently on her first solo translation of a book, the reader, through small observations, soon discovers all is not as it seems.
Towards the end of the trip, Fay learns some terrible news that is set to upend her life. She does not know what she is returning to in Australia, but it feels like she is entering hostile territory. Even as her dreams seemingly play out, including a spot at the coveted conference in Taipei, it becomes apparent that she and her mentor are most likely in an intense game of chess. With each confrontation, revelation and tactical move, the reader is reminded that power is always at play, and it favours a certain kind of person.
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