The Fury
The Fury
By: Alex Michaelides
[On my list of Most Anticipated Books of 2024]
“I feel duty bound to inform you that this is not a whodunit… If anything, it’s a whydunit— a character study, an examination of who we are; and why we do the things we do.”
“This is a tale of murder. Or maybe that’s not quite true. At its heart, it’s a love story, isn’t it? The saddest kind of love story— about the end of love; the death of love. So I guess I was right the first time.”
When I started this and read about Greece, Leo, a movie star, and a murder, I had to do a double take, but no, this was not me accidentally re-reading Moonflower Murders.
The Fury is pretty in line with Michaelides’ other two books- The Silent Patient and The Maidens. Both of those had some polarizing reviews and this one did as well. I think it must just be Michaelides’ way of writing and story concepts that has people frustrated for some reason.
I mean I wouldn’t call all of his books five star, must-reads, but I feel like I enjoy them when I read them. It’s only after I see other people’s comments that it taints my view a little bit. So since it’s been like that for all three books, I think it’s just a matter of- is this the author for you or not? And so I’ve decided I enjoy his books even though others might find them slow, or messy, or unrealistic. I don’t necessarily feel those things.
This book is a little different than the other two in that we are being told this story by a narrator— Elliot— who is also one of the characters in the story. He addresses us, readers, directly as he gives us his account, divided into a five-act-play. We are essentially at the mercy of what he decides to tell us, how he tells it to us, and when. We are not given all the information all the time.
He tells us at the beginning: “We are all the unreliable narrators of our own lives.”
And so, we are already on guard, wondering where Elliot is going in his storytelling and what we are to make of it.
The main plot of the book is that this group of friends is on an isolated Greek island when one of them turns up dead.
The narration is not strictly chronological. Elliot takes liberties to backtrack to days or years prior to give us more background and context. He also takes some artistic liberties in some parts because he doesn’t know exactly how it happens. In other cases we are left to assume he was told information from other characters in the story.
In short, I would describe this story as theatrical and layered.
Cast of Characters
Lana- recently retired movie actress
“Lana and I weren’t just friends— we were soulmates.”
Leo- Lana’s son
“A gentle soul, like his mother.”
Nikos- island caretaker
“Nikos lived a solitary existence on Aura… He spent too much time alone. Sometimes he wondered if he was going mad.”
Jason- Lana’s husband
“Jason wasn’t a man. he was just a kid, playing make-believe. And kids shouldn’t play with guns.”
Kate- Lana’s best friend, also an actress
“There’s something you should know about Kate—she had quite a temper.”
Agathi- Lana’s personal assistant/housekeeper
“She didn’t care where she went, as long as she was with Lana. She was so completely under Lana’s spell, in those days.”
Elliot- our narrator; friend to Lana; victim of abuse in his childhood
“I believed I had to change everything about me: my name, my appearance, how I carried myself, how I spoke, what I talked about, thought about. To be part of this brave new world, I needed to become a different person— a better one. And eventually, one day, I succeeded.”
Just like Michaelides’ other books, this isn’t really one you read because the characters are lovable— they’re not. And Elliot does get to be annoying at times. But you read it for the plot because you you have to know who dies, who killed them, and why.
I think I had a good chunk of it figured out by chapter six, but I still enjoyed reading it and there were a few things at the end that were unexpected which was nice!
There is a fun cameo of Marianna from The Maidens— she is Elliot’s therapist. There is also a cameo of Theo from The Silent Patient but I won’t tell you in what capacity because of spoilers.
If you do this book for a book club, I thought a good discussion question would be centered around some of Elliot’s comments about his inner child and his Wizard of Oz theory:
“I have a pet theory that everyone in life corresponds to one of the characters in The Wizard of Oz. There’s Dorothy Gale, a lost child, looking for a place to belong; an insecure, neurotic Scarecrow, seeking intellectual validation; and a bullying Lion, really a coward, more afraid than everyone else. And the Tin Man, minus a heart.”
If you had to put yourself into one of these categories, which would you choose and why?
Do you agree with his assessment?
Sometimes I think we over psychoanalyze ourselves and our childhood trauma, or go looking for some where there isn’t any. Obviously there is a lot of real trauma for a lot of people, but if we ruminate on it and always look for ways to connect it to our lives and our relationships, I wonder if we can ever really heal from it or if we’re allowing it too much power in our lives. At some point, we have to move beyond our trauma. What that exactly looks like will be different for every person, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about recently, especially after reading Bad Therapy.
Recommendation
If you were not a fan of Alex Michaelides’ other books, I can’t imagine this will be that much different for you.
If you liked his other books, I think you should give this one a shot.
If you haven’t read any of his books yet, I would read them in order because the cameos could give away a spoiler or two.
I do find his books worth a read even if other reviewers do not. At least at this point I still do. I’ll never say never.
[Content Advisory: 41 f- words, 8 s-words; mention of an affair but no sexual content]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
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