Book Review: “The Deceptions” by Jill Bialosky
We Are with You in Your Anger
Something is not right in the world of the unnamed female narrator and protagonist of poet and novelist Jill Bialosky’s latest novel The Deceptions. While things may look alright on the surface of this narrator’s life, underneath the veneer there is great turmoil. Her husband is potentially cheating on her by looking at Russian mail-order bride sites on the Internet. Her 18-year-old son is failing one of his courses at a private college she is paying good money to send him to and is prone to underage drinking (and conversely picking fights with bigger and stronger men) at dive bars. Her female neighbour, with whom she has an intellectual relationship with her daughter that is fierce, is having an affair with another man. And on it goes. To escape this multitude of sins and vexations, this narrator finds solace in Greek and Roman art and mythology, and in her memories of a troubling relationship she had with a male poet who was a visiting lecturer at the all-boys private academy that she teaches at. Overall, though, the narrator (a poet of some note herself) is angry and pissed off — even if it turns out that the person that she is most upset with may, in the very end, be herself.
The Deceptions is a challenging work and certainly isn’t a cheerful, feel-good novel. It is a work that takes risks, which is fitting as it has been published by a small press in New York City, where the author lives. I’ve tended to avoid small presses because I find that such work can be highly pretentious and overly stylized — resulting in works that tire me as a reader and fail to captivate. I was, thus, pleasantly surprised by The Deceptions, and found that it kept my interest in the same way that a page-turning thriller might. That might be strange given the bleak content of the novel, and the fact that some of the material that is presented could be a little arcane. However, if you have an interest in high art, The Deceptions is a book that will reward the reader. It provides a great deal of insight into what makes women so angry, as they live under the thumb of pretentious and venomous men in a patriarchal world. The book is also somewhat experimental in that its prose is interspersed with photographs of museum pieces: paintings, sculptures, and other artifacts that the narrator interacts with upon her frequent visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In many ways, The Deceptions feels fresh and original — and pushes the conventional boundaries of how stories can be told.
I did find, however, that the book could have been perhaps pruned a bit to sharpen its impact. Readers may find their minds drifting during discussions of Greek literature that will probably be meaningless unless they have an intimate knowledge of the works being discussed. And, to be frank, a novel that takes place largely in the art world can be tough to stomach if you don’t have a familiarity with the material being presented as well. (I’m a person who dwells in the world of pop culture, so, in many ways, The Deceptions felt a bit like being immersed headfirst into a different culture, and there was a shock that resulted in me as it did so.) Still, readers with a penchant for and interest in the material will find much to appreciate here — and even neophytes such as myself might find the odd thing to be fascinated by. This is a noteworthy work that invites the reader to linger over images of both beauty and pain, and some repetition that occurs in the work invites the reader to take a closer look at how art impacts one’s life and how art can have deep meaning ascribed to it based on one’s personal reaction to it.
Overall, The Deceptions is a highly ambitious work of art in itself. It tells a compelling story of one woman’s burning rage at the world — and this is a volume that is a testament to the fact that our world can sometimes be an unkind and unjust place. The book can be, at times, enthralling as a result. Readers of both genders will be invited to step into the narrator’s shoes, particularly as she faces criticisms over a work of art that she has produced: a long poem that details her sexual assault. The Deceptions is, thus, fascinating and thrilling as much as it threatens to perhaps enrage. The book is a venerable holocaust of bitterness and fury at the slights that are visited upon women by men — even sons and husbands, who are supposed to uphold a woman’s sense of dignity and respect. For all of these reasons, The Deceptions is a recommended read. It, however, is admittedly an acquired taste and may alienate some readers. Those willing to take the risk and be confronted by this probing work may find much to be satisfied by, however. Though not flawless, this is an intriguing and important piece of feminism from a crucial voice in the small press scene. If you aren’t afraid to be confronted by brutal and harsh truths about the position of women in society, and the dampening of their desires and longings, The Deceptions may prove to be illuminating — particularly to male readers (though women will also certainly relate). This is a storm of a novel that, in the end, could very well just break your heart. It is certainly worth examining and exploring for those willing to take the plunge into the cruel inner lives of scorned women. Ultimately, this novel is certainly worth the sticker price for those unencumbered by upsetting and difficult work.
Jill Bialosky’s The Deceptions was published by Counterpoint Press on September 6, 2022.
Of course, if you like what you see, please recommend this piece (click on the clapping hands icon below) and share it with your followers.
Get in touch: zacharyhoule@rogers.com
