A Review of E. Lily Yu’s On Fragile Waves (Erewhon, 2021)
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ljiang28
Written by Stephen Hong Sohn
Edited by Lina Jiang
What I love about Erewhon is that it understands the broad reach and expanse that is speculative fiction. On the one hand, they have published a novel like Olivia Chadha’s Rise of the Red Hand (2021), which is undoubtedly science fiction. On the other, they have something like E. Lily Yu’s On Fragile Waves (Erewhon, 2021), which I would argue is a far more low intensity speculative fiction. Chadha’s novel has plagues, mind-linked neural networks, mecha robotics technologies, amongst other such elements. Yu’s On Fragile Waves functions more in the realm of fantasy and magical realism. The official marketing description provides us this background: “The haunting story of a family of dreamers and tale-tellers looking for home in an unwelcoming world. Firuzeh and her brother Nour are children of fire, born in an Afghanistan fractured by war. When their parents, their Atay and Abay, decide to leave, they spin fairy tales of their destination, the mythical land and opportunities of Australia. As the family journeys from Pakistan to Indonesia to Nauru, heading toward a hope of home, they must rely on fragile and temporary shelters, strangers both mercenary and kind, and friends who vanish as quickly as they’re found. When they arrive in Australia, what seemed like a stable shore gives way to treacherous currents. Neighbors, classmates, and the government seek their own ends, indifferent to the family’s fate. For Firuzeh, her fantasy worlds provide some relief, but as her family and home splinter, she must surface from these imaginings and find a new way. This exquisite and unusual magic realist debut, told in intensely lyrical prose by an award winning author, traces one girl’s migration from war to peace, loss to loss, home to home.” I love the phrase “intensely lyrical,” as it perfectly describes Yu’s prose, which seems to cross over into the poetic quite effectively. The other element about this text is that it reminds me a little bit of Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West in that the speculative elements are more peripheral to the larger political implications of the narrative concerning refugees. In this specific case, Firuzeh and her family must endure months waiting to see if they will receive asylum in Australia. Though they eventually are able to gain entry, it is on a temporary status. In this sense, Yu is really plumbing the depths of refugee resettlement precarity. Life in Australia is hardly welcoming. Firuzeh must find a way to acclimate to a new culture and school system, while her parents struggle with their income. An incredible sacrifice made by the father at the novel’s conclusion only makes this particular story all the more tragic. The one salve that Yu gives us is a final section filled with the minor mercies of a fractured family still trying to find their way amongst the pieces of their lives. In this sense, if fictional worlds can provide us something, then it is in these tender moments of dignity, even as we know the future path is ever perilous.
Buy the Book Here
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ljiang28
Written by Stephen Hong Sohn
Edited by Lina Jiang
What I love about Erewhon is that it understands the broad reach and expanse that is speculative fiction. On the one hand, they have published a novel like Olivia Chadha’s Rise of the Red Hand (2021), which is undoubtedly science fiction. On the other, they have something like E. Lily Yu’s On Fragile Waves (Erewhon, 2021), which I would argue is a far more low intensity speculative fiction. Chadha’s novel has plagues, mind-linked neural networks, mecha robotics technologies, amongst other such elements. Yu’s On Fragile Waves functions more in the realm of fantasy and magical realism. The official marketing description provides us this background: “The haunting story of a family of dreamers and tale-tellers looking for home in an unwelcoming world. Firuzeh and her brother Nour are children of fire, born in an Afghanistan fractured by war. When their parents, their Atay and Abay, decide to leave, they spin fairy tales of their destination, the mythical land and opportunities of Australia. As the family journeys from Pakistan to Indonesia to Nauru, heading toward a hope of home, they must rely on fragile and temporary shelters, strangers both mercenary and kind, and friends who vanish as quickly as they’re found. When they arrive in Australia, what seemed like a stable shore gives way to treacherous currents. Neighbors, classmates, and the government seek their own ends, indifferent to the family’s fate. For Firuzeh, her fantasy worlds provide some relief, but as her family and home splinter, she must surface from these imaginings and find a new way. This exquisite and unusual magic realist debut, told in intensely lyrical prose by an award winning author, traces one girl’s migration from war to peace, loss to loss, home to home.” I love the phrase “intensely lyrical,” as it perfectly describes Yu’s prose, which seems to cross over into the poetic quite effectively. The other element about this text is that it reminds me a little bit of Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West in that the speculative elements are more peripheral to the larger political implications of the narrative concerning refugees. In this specific case, Firuzeh and her family must endure months waiting to see if they will receive asylum in Australia. Though they eventually are able to gain entry, it is on a temporary status. In this sense, Yu is really plumbing the depths of refugee resettlement precarity. Life in Australia is hardly welcoming. Firuzeh must find a way to acclimate to a new culture and school system, while her parents struggle with their income. An incredible sacrifice made by the father at the novel’s conclusion only makes this particular story all the more tragic. The one salve that Yu gives us is a final section filled with the minor mercies of a fractured family still trying to find their way amongst the pieces of their lives. In this sense, if fictional worlds can provide us something, then it is in these tender moments of dignity, even as we know the future path is ever perilous.
Buy the Book Here
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