:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/MZS3UXVV7BFPJGZMU7DGZQOAJE.jpg "The In-Between by Christos Tsiolkas: A love story par excellence (1)")
The In-Between
Author: Christos Tsiolkas
ISBN-13: 978-1805461852
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Guideline Price: £9.99
Should a Martian land on Planet Earth and decide to work his way through some of the more successful novels of recent years, he might believe that sex is the sole preserve of those in their early 20s and that no one past the age of 30 has ever felt desire, heartache, or loneliness.
That same Martian would be well advised to read Australian writer Christos Tsiolkas’ new novel, which not only describes the need for love in middle-age but details how fulfilling it can be when both partners choose to set their emotional scars aside and take a chance on happiness.
The In-Between opens, rather beautifully, with a date. Two men in their early 50s, Perry and Ivan, go for a meal in Melbourne, having both come out of long-term relationships. They’re attracted to each other and decide to play no games but to admit that they’re lonely. A romance begins. It’s healthy and rewarding. Each is worthy of the other’s love and realises that they’ve unexpectedly met someone special.
A love story without drama is surprising but that’s what Tsiolkas crafts. Naturally, there are things that irritate the lovers about each other, but their mutual kindness, their willingness to debate without arguing, is crucial to their connection. Still, as positive as this is, neither can truly escape his past.
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In Perry’s case, it’s a lengthy affair from when he lived in France with an older man who ended their clandestine trysts when he discovered that he was to become a grandfather. In Ivan’s, it’s an equally protracted one with a younger man, who brutally ends theirs after 15 years, demanding and receiving half of everything that Ivan has spent a lifetime building. The reader, and the men themselves, know that these broken hearts, these unresolved traumas, will never be forgotten but they don’t have to define their lives.
Tsiolkas has spoken publicly about his good fortune at finding a partner at a very young age and maintaining that love over many decades, so his ability to write so accurately about romantic grief and betrayal is extraordinary. For Perry, the “cruel termination of their relationship had almost driven him mad”. For Ivan, “being betrayed is a drowning. He had been left alone, thrashing and going under.” He, quite literally, loses his mind for a few minutes, committing an act that continues to shame him but that he cannot quite bring himself to regret. Anyone who has gone through such pain, anyone who has either hurt someone or been hurt, will not only recognise the insight here but will cleave to it.
Tsiolkas is a master of the set piece. He proved that in The Slap, which, for this reader, is the finest novel yet published this century. He proves it again in two lengthy scenes here: a dinner party with three couples — two gay men, two lesbians, two straights — that walks a tightrope of tension that even Philippe Petit would struggle to maintain. The other is a chapter where Ivan, fully committing to Perry, ends a lengthy arrangement with a sex worker, the two men parting on good terms but with an intense and fascinating conversation about the life one has already lived and that the other hopes to live. Minor characters — like the rent-boy Troy — appear only briefly but remain with us, their lives interesting enough to be explored further while, in an unusual conceit, Tsiolkas occasionally spends a few pages on characters entirely unrelated to the narrative, adding scenes that bring colour and texture to the world of Melbourne dating but are rather brave for their distance from the central story.
The In-Between is a love story par excellence. It’s a novel about two damaged men who understand that when a decent guy shows up, he needs to be held close. It’s written with wisdom, humour, and a lot of raw sexuality that is never titillating but always powerful. I discovered Tsiolkas’ work in the mid-1990s when his erotically charged novel Loaded was published. Millions recognised his excellence when the Booker-longlisted The Slap appeared in 2008, and there’s a reason he became the sixth recipient of the Melbourne Prize in 2021, an award given for a writer’s entire body of work and their contribution to Australian literature and cultural life. He’s simply one of the great writers of our time and The In-Between is a formidable addition to his list of works.
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