CEO Reads: The Furies

The Furies was shortlisted for the 2022 Queensland Literary Awards – Fiction and is the debut novel from Mandy Beaumont, a Melbourne based writer and academic.

As my 'read harder' challenge continues to focus on Australian debut authors this fit perfectly with my focus and what a novel it is. Containing elements of paranormal, gothic horror and contemporary trauma for women this novel asks a lot from the reader.

Cynthia (Cyn) an abused young woman working in an abattoir in outback Queensland suffering from the grief of losing a younger sister in terrible circumstances which has left her alone, fending for herself at 16. The traumatic circumstances are slowly revealed throughout the book as we live Cyn’s life, as she loses her own child, abused by her partner and by the men around her. What Cyn wonders is the collective noun for the group of men around a toilet block who seethe with menace to a girl alone?

Cyn’s story is drenched in pain and her seemingly powerless anger at the violence she is subjected to – violence that is not only physical, but emotional. So why read it? It is about the power women can have by coming together and supporting each other, it is about women who eventually revolt and it does beautifully articulate the clash of underlying rage of women who are abused and the class conditioned acceptance that women are taught to bear, in life, at work and within your own family.

'The writing in The Furies is lyrical and powerful and while Cyn’s story is confronting, at times bleak it is not without hope and is ultimately about overcoming disempowerment and not accepting the status quo.'

- Jane Cowell

BE WARNED! this could be a triggering novel even though the violence is not graphically described it is nonetheless brutal, sensory and the surprisingly exquisite prose drives home to every reader, man or woman, the lived experience of women forged through the violence of men. It is set against the backdrop of drought-stricken outback Queensland where the lack of access to services contributes to the first devastation wreaked on Cyn’s family leaving her alone at 16.

The novel also explores the rural Queensland’s insularity with her female Vietnamese co-workers very clearly designated as “other” by the Abattoir workers and Cyn herself comments that she has never seen so many other Greek people in one place which is the predominant cultural background for the men.

The writing in The Furies is lyrical and powerful and while Cyn’s story is confronting, at times bleak it is not without hope and is ultimately about overcoming disempowerment and not accepting the status quo. Totally recommend this to you all as a great read and I look forward to reading more from Mandy Beaumont in the future.

Other books by Mandy Beaumont: Wild, fearless chests