My daunting brief: to tell you about Hanya Yanagihara and her new, uncategorisable 720-page novel in 550 words. It’s the book-reviewing equivalent of a heated round of Articulate. Bums on the edge of the sofa, team. Flip that egg-timer. Here goes!
American, born 1974, childhood spent largely in Hawaii. Debuted with The People in the Trees, 2013: clever, concept-led story about a fictional island whose inhabitants stumble upon the secret of extreme longevity. Best known for her second novel, the 800-page A Little Life, sold more than a million copies, shortlisted for the Booker. Come on, you know this one! Four gay friends, but mainly about Jude, the victim of terrible child abuse, addicted to self-harm. If you didn’t read it yourself you’ll know someone who did, and either loved it for its unrelenting darkness or dismissed it as gratuitous melodrama.
The new book, To Paradise, has three sections: 1894, 1994, 2094. Location: New York, specifically a townhouse in Washington Square. The novel’s 1894 is an alternative, semi-utopian version of the past. Gay marriage is permitted. Fragile David Bingham, the scion of a banking family, is being encouraged to marry the wealthy Charles Griffith. Really he loves Edward Bishop, an impoverished music teacher who might be practising a con trick on him.
1994: our recent past. The Aids pandemic. A man called Charles Griffith lives in the big townhouse with his younger lover, David Bingham, the descendant of Hawaiian royalty. They host a farewell party for an HIV-positive friend who is actually dying of cancer and plans to travel to Switzerland to end his life. There is also a long, rambling letter from David’s father (another David) explaining how he tried to establish a utopia of two in the Hawaiian wilderness, manipulated by his controlling best friend, Edward.
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