Book Review: Seven Steeples by Sara Baume

My Rating:

4.5⭐

Simon and Isabel, “Sigh” and “Bell”, two “solitary misanthropes” move into a home at the base of a mountain in the Irish countryside with their dogs Voss and Pip. Having quit their respective jobs and given up their “autonomous lives” they live on their social welfare checks and dwindling savings - a conscious decision they have taken neither out of any compulsion nor out of any particularly overwhelming discontent with their “autonomous" existence.

“A refuge, a cult, a church of two; this was their experiment.”

As the narrative progresses we see Bell and Sigh withdraw from their friends and attachments with the outside world and settle into a routine – once-weekly trip in their van to buy provisions, evening walks, same seven-day menus, minimal interaction with their neighbor who is a farmer. Everything they own and gradually acquire is old and second–hand. The author describes in much detail, the seasonal changes of the flora and fauna of the terrain, the litter on the streets they walk on, and the insects and the rodents in their home. The sights, sounds and smells of the house and its surroundings are described in meticulous detail as are the feelings and reactions that they evoke in our protagonists. As the seasons change and the months and years pass by we see Bel and Sigh immersed in their own world, their individualities and distinct personalities seem to fade and as they become attuned to one another it is almost as if their identities merge into one.

“And they talked about how small their life had become, almost nothing about how unlikely it seemed that some society other than that of their rooms still existed, out there.”

They are not particularly industrious in cultivating the attached land and depend upon their weekly trips to purchase their necessities. Neither do they show much interest in maintaining their home and do not seem to be bothered with the deterioration of the condition of their home and their belongings accepting the squalor that gradually sets it. At the beginning of each chapter, the author mentions that a year has passed and they are yet to climb the mountain. Only after eight years pass do they climb the mountain and take in the view - the seven standing stones, the seven schools and the seven steeples and reflect on their life together in its totality and its simplicity.

Sara Baume's Seven Steeples is a quiet yet immersive and contemplative novel that is unlike anything I have ever read. The narrative is slow-paced, repetitive and with not much movement - just as the lives of the characters. The prose is beautiful and the imagery is vivid and stunning in its detail. There is a reverence with which the author describes how Bell and Sigh observe and interpret the world around them. What is unique is that there is almost no dialogue (direct speech) in the narrative. At 180 pages, this might look like a quick read but is not so. This is a meditative yet intense read that requires a good amount of time and intent. I did experience a few moments of disquiet in the course of reading this book. I couldn't help but think that while most of us yearn for and enjoy moments of solitude in our busy lives, how would we feel if solitude became a way of life – to what extent can one distance oneself from the world we are accustomed to and for how long? How do we interpret, in the post-pandemic world, the concept of solitude and isolation? I could not help but ponder over our experiences during the pandemic and compare that with the conscious and deliberate decision to distance themselves taken by Bell and Sigh and the eight years of their lives the narrative takes us through. The impersonal and somewhat emotionally detached tone of the narrative succeeds in establishing a distance with the reader – congruent to the distance that the Sigh and Bell aspired to achieve from the world outside by creating a world of their own – “post-family, post-doctrine, post-consumerism”.

I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. I thank the author and publisher for the opportunity to read and review this beautiful novel. All opinions expressed here are my own.