Opening the eye to life's truths
Tulip Chowdhury is charmed by yet another work of fiction
The message of Colm Toibin in his novel, The South, can be translated as "Follow your heart and see where it leads you." It takes courage to break away from the familiar surroundings of one's family and home and go to a new place. Kathrine Proctor, an artist found her heart growing restless, she wanted to escape the everyday routine life of her home. The bondage of home, her husband and even the child was choking her. Suddenly she wanted to be free. An unknown adventure, an uncertain future seems to be beckoning her. Leaving her home in Dublin, leaving her husband Tom and her ten year old son Richard for an unknown destination was like a wild goose chase. And yet her heart called out to the wild wishes. She felt as if an inner force was driving her to the far, wide world. And she made no secret about it. She told Tom that she was leaving him, going where; she herself did not know. On a foggy morning, Kathrine found herself in Barcelona, Spain. The only person who knew of her whereabouts was her mother. In fact her mother had advised her to go to Barcelona. Her mother also had told her to take the break she wanted to even if it meant leaving her husband and son. The mother understood her daughter's inner turmoil. Kathrine allowed her passion to rule her, not reasons and started her new life in the Spanish city. The book, The South, is in fact a work that holds a unique story of the freedom of the soul. It is a story of how passion can rule our life at times and we may fail to see reasons. But in that submission to the passion the person is not unhappy, the person is contented for the soul is at peace. Kathrine too is content as she starts getting to know her neighbors and the artists in Barcelona. Her landlady Rosa is kind and she is peacefully settled down in her little room overlooking the harbor. It was as if fate had destined her to meet Miguel, a Spanish artist. They meet at a market place and soon are inseparable. There is a feeling as if some divine plans were set for them to meet so far away from Kathrine's former home. Miguel seems to be the soulmate fate had hidden so far. In Barcelona life is still haunted by the dictatorship of Franco. Kathrine's life is entangled with Miguel, his art and his fight against the anarchists in the civil war. They move to a nearby village .Kathrine works on her art and yet a part of her heart is with Miguel and the dangers he faces. Soon Miguel is arrested and tortured along with another comrade. In the meantime Kathrine and Miguel have a daughter Isona. Kathrine brings up the child with her own beliefs of giving individual freedom. When Miguel comes back from the police custody he is not himself anymore and love sours in Kathrine's life. On a dark winter day Kathrine's life is shaken as tragedy strikes the two persons who have illuminated her life in Spain. On an ill fated morning Miguel and Isona are taken away from Kathrine's life. She is baffled with the cruelty of life. When she wanted to be alone she found Miguel and when she was happy with Miguel and Isona she was forced to be alone! Life is perplexing indeed! There is Michael Graves, an Irish artist who tries to stand beside Kathrine in her hard times. Kathrine is not ready to go into another relation just yet. She decides to go back to her home in Ireland. Richard is now a grown man with a wife and a lively daughter. Tom is dead. Life seems to come back at full circle as Kathrine starts painting once again and settles down at her old home. She starts rediscovering the south again.But Michael Graves shows up and once again Kathrine is puzzled by life and its twisted games. She was at home and her old self wanted things like the old days. But there was Michael now throwing her into dilemma of the heart. It was as if while reading a collection of short stories she had mixed up the stories and she did not know which one to read at the moment. The story in The South is the debut novel of the writer. The story is a moving work of how hard changes in life can be. The protagonist of the story, Kathrine shows a determined character by following her heart. And yet the writer also portrays the truth that there are times when we have no control over our fate and things just happen as they are meant to be. It is a story that can be soul searching and opens the way to self discovery. The setting of the story in the beautiful city of Barcelona enhances the reader's imagination. The climax of the story involving Kathrine's search for inner peace of her heart is an eye opener to life's truths. A worthy read for keen readers of fiction!
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