Sophie Mackintosh's Permanence: A Compelling Allegory of Infidelity
Sophie Mackintosh, known for her speculative literary fiction focusing on young women's desires and struggles, returns with a new novel titled Permanence. This work shifts from overt political commentary to a nuanced exploration of desire through allegory, offering a high-concept fable about adultery that captivates with its imaginative premise.
An Uncanny Escape into a Parallel World
The story begins in a strange hotel where Clara awakens next to her lover, Francis. Clara works half-heartedly at an art gallery and shares a flat with a friend, while Francis is an academic art historian, married to a lawyer and father to a toddler. On this particular day, they find themselves transported to a parallel universe designed for adulterous couples, initially appearing as a permanent holiday retreat.
This realised fantasy is depicted as a bourgeois, north European setting: a cobbled old city bathed in perpetual sunshine, featuring numerous restaurants with pristine tablecloths and fine wine. Parks are filled with ever-blooming flowers and ancient stone fountains, markets overflow with ripe tomatoes, olive oil, and bread, and scented soap adorns clean bathrooms. Clara and Francis have nothing to do but indulge in lovemaking, bathing, dining, drinking, and strolling through charming streets. Clara discovers pretty dresses, such as girlish pale blue silk and yellow cotton, waiting in the wardrobe, alongside her favourite books by the bed.
The Illusion of Paradise and Its Disintegration
Hours and days pass in this alternate reality with no means of escape, and initially, no desire to leave, aside from Francis's manageable thoughts of his home life and daughter. However, they eventually wake up in their separate, real lives, where no time has elapsed and no one has noticed their absence. Clara pines for Francis, forbidden from contacting him to avoid his wife's discovery, while Francis resumes his work and marriage until mutual longing draws them back to the magical realm.
As the narrative unfolds, the idyllic walled garden transforms into a prison. Mysterious injuries, resembling insect bites, appear on their bodies whenever they hurt each other's feelings. Their apartment begins to accumulate dirt, and interactions with other couples reveal unspoken rules that remain shrouded in secrecy. When the mysterious coins that funded their lifestyle run out, they are forced to work in public gardens, and after repeated returns to reality, even the park's soil turns poor and dusty. Despite this decay, yearning persistently regathers, pulling them back to the disintegrating paradise.
Literary Strengths and Descriptive Nuances
The novel presents a rich and alluring concept, offering literary enjoyment through its dual timelines: one realistic and the other almost timeless. Clara and Francis's real lives are relatively comfortable, with hardships centered on love, contrasting sharply with the wilder, scarier possibilities of the alternate world. Mackintosh's prose often adopts a glassy, understated quality that serves the uncanny atmosphere, making everything in the adulterers' paradise feel like a poor simulacrum, which underscores themes of fantasy and infidelity.
However, this descriptive style can sometimes lack sensuality. For instance, magic food is merely labeled as delicious or beautiful, and their frequent sexual encounters are described in abstract terms, such as placing Clara entirely in herself and beyond herself. Earth and plants evoke more concrete writing, yet it remains oddly factual, like noting a river widening suddenly into a silted terracotta beach without vivid detail. Similarly, Francis buys Clara roses described as preternaturally beautiful, but specifics about colour, smell, or beauty are omitted, leaving readers wanting more sensory engagement.
Character Dynamics and Narrative Appeal
Mackintosh deserves admiration for centering two unlikable characters who behave carelessly, adding depth to the allegory. The timeslips are entertaining, and the allegory itself is inventive and convincing, exploring the consequences of desire and infidelity in a compelling manner. The novel effectively contrasts mundane concerns with surreal possibilities, though the prose could benefit from greater sensual richness to match its themes of pleasure and play.
In summary, Permanence is a thought-provoking work that blends speculative fiction with allegorical depth, making it a noteworthy addition to contemporary literary discussions on desire and morality.
