The Conversion, by Amanda Lohrey

 

A recently bereaved woman decides on a sea change.​

Zoe and her husband Nick have recently seen their investment portfolio tank, due to stock market volatility. Re-assessing their lives, they decide to sell up their lovingly restored inner city Federation villa and move to the country. Their plan is to vaguely become part of a regional community and shrug off their middle-class entitlement, “tut-tutting at the television and taking expensive holidays.” 

They start looking online for a country property and come across an old church, cheap as chips and with a view of the vineyards. Zoe's not so keen. The idea of converting the church is more than a little daunting. But Nick is gung-ho. Their plans remain under consideration when Nick is killed in an accident.  Suddenly bereaved, Zoe takes the plunge and decides to take on the church herself. It's a way of dealing with her grief, but in many ways she doesn't really know what she's doing. Nevertheless, she starts to make connections with people in the town, especially with an extroverted teacher named Melanie who wants to turn the church into a temporary theatre space. Zoe's new friendships, and the eerie experience of living in the church, help her exorcise some personal demons.
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The Conversion is an accessible and straight forward story of grief and isolation, of how dramatic changes in life, of location and people and atmosphere, have the power to heal and transform us. Many readers will see themselves in Amanda Lohrey's descriptions of contemporary Australia, its people and customs and attitudes. The dialogue and the narrator's observations are often wryly humourous, leavening the story's gravity with some delightfully lighter moments.

A gentle journey into the dark night of the soul, performed with a light but sure touch.

​The Conversion, by Amanda Lohrey. Published by Text. $32.99

DEC23