A review by maiakobabe
Private Rites by Julia Armfield

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.0

Set in a near future world which is drowning under decades of torrential rains, this lyrical, tense family drama follows three estranged sisters after the death of their patriarch father. Isla, the oldest, is a therapist in middle of a divorce; she feels the most pulled to manage the family tragedy of the death, funeral, will, and her more unruly sisters' emotions. Irene, the middle sister, struggles to throw off her teen role as "the angry one", though a very loving partner has softened her rough edges over time. And their half sister, Agnes, younger by 11 years, wants nothing to do with any of this and doesn't feel she owes alliance or family feeling to the others. But all of them are haunted by the ghosts of their dead or missing parents, the abuse and neglect they suffered during a disrupted childhood. Plus there's the matter of the family home to deal with: a cold and luxurious house built on stilts which hold it above the rising water. I enjoyed the lovely prose, the fact that all three sisters are queer, and the exploration of how traumatized people try or fail to build and maintain relationships under many pressures, including climate crisis. The ending is a bit rushed and leaves as many questions open as answered. I might later lower my rating to 3.75, but I rounded up because I enjoyed my book club discussion about it so much.