Now and then a book comes along with a concept and a style that genuinely stands out, and Emily Habeck’s Shark Heart (subtitled ‘A Love Story’) is one such book. It’s the story of a newlywed couple – Lewis and Wren – whose happiness is rocked when Lewis is diagnosed with a rare mutation, which will see him slowly transform into a great white shark over the course of the following year. As Lewis changes and Wren cares for him, the couple try to adapt to the realities of their new lives, holding on to one another as best they can while preparing for the inevitable, all the while learning more about themselves and each other.
This is a story told in bite size chunks, largely eschewing regular chapters in favour of a series of small vignettes, sometimes as long as a few pages but often much less, occasionally even just a few lines. Whether regular prose or structured as poetry or scenes from plays, at their best these snippets of life are – in the words of Habeck herself – “brief but significant” moments, gradually building up a picture of these characters, their lives and histories, the changes they’re all faced with and the emotions they experience. It’s perhaps not a style that every reader will get along with, but once it gets going – and it does take a little adjusting to – it instils a page-turning, relentless sort of pace to the story. This only really lets up in the middle when the focus switches to Wren’s mother in her youth, a narrative choice that ultimately makes sense, but does slow things down a bit.
It might all sound very sci-fi, but the mutations (Lewis’ isn’t the only one), are the only speculative element, and they’re just treated as natural – albeit uncommon – parts of the setting. These sorts of afflictions are sufficiently ordinary that Habeck doesn’t have to spend any time justifying them or explaining the science, and can instead concentrate on the impact they have on the characters. This lends proceedings a strangely matter of fact air – as Lewis and Wren consult with doctors and adjust their lives to support Lewis’ increasing difficulties, at times it’s possible to forget about the mutation itself and just see the journey they’re going on. You could in fact choose to read this as simply a metaphor for coping with death (which it is, to be fair), but there’s something satisfying about taking Lewis’ sharkification (my term, not the author’s) at face value.
However you choose to read it though, at its heart this is a fascinating book exploring vividly drawn, utterly believable people, their lives and their relationships. It’s a book about creating and understanding identities, and about grief and endings – acknowledging those borrowed moments that can never last. It’s also about growing up, learning to deal with the hurdles that life puts before you, and the clarity that comes through experience, bringing with it new insights on what’s gone before and what’s to come. At times it’s breezy and fun, other times raw and painful, and – as you’d imagine from a book centred around a newly-married couple being torn apart by cruel circumstance – often utterly heartbreaking. Ultimately though, despite its oddities and all the ups and downs it ends up warm, life-affirming, and utterly compelling.
Review copy provided by the publisher
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