![The Origins of Iris by [Beth Lewis]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41iXmFQImxS.jpg)
Thank you to Hodder Studio and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
All quotes are taken from The Origins of Iris by Beth Lewis.
// Content warnings: suicide, abuse (emotional and physical), sexual assault, insanity, language, homophobia, misogyny, and violence //
Trigger warnings and spoilers are marked.
// Quick Statistics //
Overall: 5/5 Stars
Plot: 5/5 Stars
Setting: 5/5 Stars
Characters: 5/5 Stars
Writing: 5/5 Stars
Memorability: 5/5 Stars
// Quick Review //
There is so much to say about this heavy and realistic novel that deals with topics uncommonly talked about. It is one of my favorite novels because of it’s ability to convey deep, heavy, and horrific topics in a way that is bearable and yet truthful.
They say love is blind. Blind to white lies and small failings. Blind to pain. Blind to cruelty. They are right. I was blind to it all.
// Other Information //
Publisher: Hodder Studio
Page Count: 336 pages
Release Date: August 19, 2021
Series: None
Genre: Fiction, Adult, LGBTQ+, Thriller
// Book Description (via Goodreads) //
Author of the critically-acclaimed debut The Wolf Road, Beth Lewis returns with her brand new novel The Origins of Iris where Wild meets Sliding Doors.
‘I opened my eyes and the woman wearing my face opened hers at the same time.’
Iris flees New York City, and her abusive wife Claude, for the Catskill Mountains. When she was a child, Iris and her father found solace in the beauty and wilderness of the forest; now, years later, Iris has returned for time and space to clear her head, and to come to terms with the mistakes that have led her here. But what Iris doesn’t expect in her journey of survival and self-discovery is to find herself – literally.
Trapped in a neglected cabin deep in the mountains, Iris is grudgingly forced to come face to face with a seemingly prettier, happier and better version of herself. Other Iris made different choices in life and love. But is she all she seems? Can she be trusted? What is she hiding?
As a storm encroaches, threatening both their lives, time is running out for them to discover why they have been brought together, and what it means for their futures.
An important, searing novel about one woman’s journey in fleeing an abusive relationship and confronting the secrets of her past.
// Characters //
Lewis’ characters are flawed, but in that way they are human. The novel follows the journey of Iris/Jane to the center of her discourse; her grief, guilt, scars, past and future. Iris is married to Claude, her abuser and wife; her love and her pain. As I mentioned, all of the characters are flawed and most horrible people, including Iris. *TRIGGER WARNING AND SPOILER* It is revealed that Iris rapes Claude after being abused by her for many years throughout their marriage. *
For a large portion of the novel, Iris is alone in the woods where she has escaped to discover happiness and what she has been missing from life since meeting Claude. This allows the reader to slowly descend in Iris’ “madness” with her. The way the novel is written helps the reader become ingrained into the story as a spectator, a fly on the wall.
I had broken my life. Snapped it clean in two. Into a then and now, a before and after. All because I’d loved the wrong woman.
// Writing and Setting //
The thing that makes The Origins of Iris so unique is the way that the novel presents issues like abuse within LGBTQ+ marriages. I have never before read a novel or seen a show/movie where this topic is discussed. It is a very real issue and I’m so glad that this novel handles it so well.
The novel flashes back and forth between ‘Before’ and ‘After’. ‘Before’ her and Claude’s relationship reaches its peak, and ‘After’.
Iris’ world is heavy and dark, full of pain, abuse, grief, and guilt. The atmosphere of the novel is super heavy, sucking the reader into the black hole that is Iris’ situation.
I think what really makes this novel a masterpiece is it’s openness. And the ending, I must say, is brilliant. The way it is left open for the reader to interpret Iris’ future is a great decision on the author’s part.
I wanted out. Wanted oblivion and quiet darkness. wanted an end to the pain and guilt and fear. My life had been so full of fear and sadness for so long.
// Plot //
The Origins of Iris is obviously a heavy novel. And the journey through this heaviness is fairly paced. I definitely see how the novel could appear slow to some, as Iris is alone for all of the ‘After’ chapters.
Iris ventures to the woods where she used to come with her father, who she had a difficult relationship with. Not only is she trying to deal with her and Claude’s relationship and her guilt over her father’s suicide, but she is also trying to find herself.
*SPOILER* In the process, she quite literally finds herself, a different version of her with a different life full of different regrets. This was an interesting twist, and it’s sort of left up to the reader to interpret. Did Iris’ interactions with Iris really occur, or was it just a spiral into insanity? It’s up to you, just like Iris’ future.
I could end it all right now. I should. But then she’d win. And no one will ever know what she did.
// Overall Review //
I firmly believe that The Origins of Iris is a novel everyone should read. It is twisted, dark, horrifying, yet a prime example of the atrocities of humankind.
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