Arabic version: «طقوس الربيع» يستكشف الرغبة في تسمانيا

According to The Guardian, Kris Kneen’s Rite of Spring follows Miranda and Richard, a couple who become lighthouse carers for six months on a remote island off Tasmania. They hope the isolation will repair a failing marriage after Richard’s infidelity, while Miranda seeks to recover a connection to the ocean after a diving accident.

Miranda, a marine biologist, is at the centre of the novel’s sexual, physical and psychological awakening. The freezing island, described as one of the windiest places on earth, deepens her unease over her body following the accident and the onset of menopause. Her desire to find something “huge and pure” in the sea propels her exploration of the island and surrounding waters.

The review says sex permeates the narrative as Miranda encounters grotesque effigies with non-binary genitalia and discovers journal entries by their creator, KJ. KJ’s sections are marked by a plea to be saved from “wretched desire”, while reflections signed by “Kris” connect KJ and Miranda to the author’s experience of being non-binary.

Ocean life broadens the book’s examination of bodily possibility, including female octopuses, anglerfish and parrotfish. The isolated setting also sustains dramatic tension through electric storms, fallen trees and icy winds. The Guardian describes Kneen’s fiction as tightly crafted and calls Rite of Spring a “surreal, sexy triumph.”