Private Rites: A Novel

Received an e-arc audiobook via the publishers and netgalley. This is a spoiler free review. Set in upon the backdrop of continuous rise of water levels (?) and perpetual storms, Private Rites takes readers through the lives of three estranged sisters on the cusp of their father's death. This is my second read by Julia Armfield and there were so many thought provoking passages in this book for me. Especially from the stand point of being an eldest child who has experienced broken connections and even indifference from close relatives. Our main characters Isla, the organized eldest sister. Irene, the abrasive and short-tempered middle child. And Agnes, the aloof and indifferent youngest daughter that neither of her sister really know much about. Their father was this well-known and generally suspenseful architect whose building and structures which allowed the well-off the ability to close themselves off and escape the rest of the world (I took this as an concussion decision to escape the rising water levels and global warming crisis existing around them). But as readers learn more and more about each sister and the tattered relationship they each had with their father, we begin to realize just how similar they are to one another. And I began to wonder, how strong their relationship might have been if they recognized just how similar they were to each other. Isla, Irene and Agnes had strained and an emotionally abusive and manipulated relationship with their late father in various different ways. And all three girls grew-up in absences of a mother all while living in this grand 'glass' house. Personally, reading each of their accounts of living in the home would make me think of large prison or box they were all desperate to get away from. So their father's death affect each of them differently. None more so than Isla, the oldest whom seemed aware of her flaws and issues but did not lean into them as much as Irene and Agnes. And through Isla's bitterness of trying to appease their father and have her life "put together" and in order, causes her outer defenses to crack the fastest I felt because, as the oldest child, she repressed her emotions the most. Whereas, Irene and Agnes who are just as messed up, but only slightly less so because they embrace their flaws more rather than hide from it. I find this is mostly evident in each sister's romantic relationship in the book. They and their respective partners have this emotional tug of war as the Carmickle (?) sisters consistently keep their partners at arms length. I could go on and on about Armfield structures her characters down to the prickle of a finger. For example, I could easily relate to the uncomfortable feeling that Agnes feels about looking like her mother. As if it is in some subtle way a connection to one's own personality. Like you are preconceived to act just like them and be just like them. When in reality you don't want any such connection to that parent or relative whatsoever. No detail or nuance left unexplored. When I got to the last chapter, I found that each of the sisters had their own breakthrough within themselves and their relationship as sisters but at bittersweet cost. Because the pull of the narrative was leading them and the readers in this magnetic direction of iconoclasm revelation of the past and a series of events that led Isla, Irene and Agnes to a share moment in their lives a the peak of one of the worst storms and floods yet. Overall, Private Rites at the forefront harbors themes of abandonment, loneliness, depression, isolation, a desperation for closeness, connection and love. This is a spoiler free review, but I find it important to mention the undercurrents of religion/cult presence in the narrative as the story progresses, for readers to be aware of.