Kthaahthikha

The Monkey's Mask is a confident, well-executed, and gripping novel, written as a series of short poems grouped into various sections. Running to over two hundred pages (short for a novel but, as poetry goes, kind of cool), it is kind of like Beowulf, if Beowulf had been written by a Sydney poetess channeling Dashiel Hammet and lesbian issues. Which is to say that it is nothing like Beowulf.

The plot is a simple one, revolving around the narrator, Jill Fitzpatrick, and her attempts to locate the missing daughter of a rich North Shore couple, a girl who is later found dead, raped, and buried in a shallow grave in the bush north of Sydney. It is not the plot that makes this book, however (even if the plot is quite well-executed). It is what Porter does with the material.

Rather than being just a taught thriller - which, for all its other aspects, is what it is - this book is a complex exploration of gender roles, an examination of sensual and emotional love, a caustically-witty critique of literary circles and the hypocrits that populate them, and an examination of both poetry and erotic thrillers as genres and literary forms. The conclusions drawn are excellent, the entire thing brutal in parts but smooth and gentle as a whole, and the pages will turn faster than a Cessna's propellers. I miht draw some similarities between this book and Lantana, but I don't think that would give much more than a vague impression of the places and feel.

All this said, if you're not one for foul language (gratuitous use of the 'c' word, that is) or sex, you may not like this, and I'd keep it away from small children.

Nonetheless, a top-notch read. Really worth it.