Fruit of the Dead, Rachel Lyon
“A novel that is as poignant as it is heart-breaking.”
As someone who hadn’t read the myth of Demeter and Persephone, I wasn’t sure if I should have done so before reading Rachel Lyon’s novel, The Fruit of the Dead, which is a contemporary retelling of this myth. However, the good news is that you don’t need to be clued up on your Greek myths to appreciate this smart, incisive and completely compelling novel about what it means to finally be seen after spending most of your life being ignored.
At eighteen years old, Cory Ansel has been working at River Rock Summer Camp but, as the season draws to an end, she has no college place and no prospects. When she meets Rolo Picazo, the father of one of the children she has been looking after, his offer of $20,000 to be a nanny to his two children seems too good to be true.
When Cory decides to take the job on the Little Île des Bienheureux for the charismatic Pharmaceutical CEO, you sense that all is not what it seems. Rolo is only too happy to give Cory Granadone – the drug his company manufactures – concealed in a cocktail he names Fruit of the Dead. He is in turns utterly charismatic and cruel, and Cory feels herself falling under his spell and losing herself the longer she stays with him.
Cory’s mother, Emer, tells the other side of the story. She is working for a NGO that is developing a rice that will not grow and not only is her professional reputation in jeopardy, but their relationship has also become increasingly strained as Cory refuses to conform to Emer’s desires. As the novel progresses, Emer has no means of communicating with her daughter’ she becomes increasingly concerned and sets off to bring her daughter home.
What follows is a novel that is as poignant as it is heart-breaking. You see how desperately Emer and Cory need each other and, as a reader, all we want is for them to put aside their differences and reconnect. It is a thoughtful and completely immersive novel that unflinchingly depicts, not only the dark side of capitalism and wealth, but also just how powerful and unbreakable the mother-daughter bond is.
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