Natalie Haynes
The Furies by Natalie Haynes unfolds primarily in the first-person voice of Alex Morris, a young theatre director mourning the untimely death of her fiancée, Luke. The manner of his death is hinted at but not fully revealed until late in the novel. Alex’s grief is so intense she leaves London to try to escape all that reminds her of him. She accepts a position in Edinburgh teaching dysfunctional children who are no longer accepted in regular schools.
Although Alex works with children of different age groups, her focus is on the class of fifteen-year-olds—two boys and three girls. Using drama therapy, she introduces the teenagers to classical Greek tragedies. She encourages them to analyze the characters and to discuss their motivations, their feelings of guilt—or lack, thereof—and their acts of vengeance. She succeeds in engaging the students in the readings and discussions.
Mel (Melody), an intelligent deaf girl, is particularly inspired by the plays and responds to the discussion. Alex’s narrative is punctuated with Mel’s dairy entries in which the young girl unveils her thoughts about the plays and her growing sympathy for Alex. She develops an unhealthy curiosity about Alex and begins stalking her. She also reveals the unhealthy degree with which she has embraced the Greek tragedies and adopted their underlying message.
Some issues with plausibility surface in the novel. For example, Alex has no prior experience in teaching, let alone in conducting a class with particularly challenging students who have been abandoned as lost causes by many others in the teaching profession. And with barely a year of teaching under her belt, she is offered the position of the school’s director when others who are more qualified and who have been there longer are by-passed.
But the novel more than makes up for these shortcomings through the classroom discussions about the plays. It is fascinating to read how these troubled teenagers engage with the Greek classics. They ask questions, speculate on motives, and interpret the material. The plays act as catalysts for the teens to open up about themselves, share their perspectives, and reveal how they do or do not relate to the characters and events in the plays. It is thrilling to see them breathe life into these ancient classics.
Another strength of the novel is Haynes’ ability to capture the insecurities, projections of tough external veneers, sensitivities, awkwardness, and halting dialogues of fifteen-year-olds. Alex manages to break through to them, and in the process, seems on the verge of finding a meaningful purpose to her life. But tragedy intervenes and Alex plummets back into the depths of despair. The novel ends on a hopeful note, however, as Alex picks up the pieces of her shattered life.
An engaging novel in which Haynes skillfully and periodically drops details about past events and foreshadows future events until a full picture emerges of what actually transpired.