They: A Sequence Of Unease | Kay Dick #NovNov

_{Seen through the early September light Karr’s house looked magnificent. In fact, it was rather splendid. From his roof there was a full sight of the sea. Karr took me up give me some bearings.}

They: A Sequence Of Unease is introduced by Carmen Maria Machado who tells us a little about Dick’s life and the publishing history of They.

Kathleen Elsie “Kay” Dick (29 July 1915 – 19 October 2001) was a ‘trail-blazing queer English writer, editor and publisher’ who also wrote under the names Edward Lane and Jeremy Scott. She wrote five novels between 1949 and 1962. When I googled her name, I came across her 2001 obituary in The Guardian which made it clear that she was quite a character. In fact the obit was more roasting than tribute.

Lucy Scholes who re-discovered They after reading this scathing obituary, said that with a ‘more equitable, less hyperbolic appraisal’ she thought that though ‘undoubtedably spiky’, Dick was actually ‘utterly beguiling’.

They won the now defunct South East Arts literature prize, though this failed to help it sell well. Machado claims that ‘no one was quite ready for They: not the house that published it, not the readers who ignored it, not the critics whose reactions were middling to unbelievably sexist.’

Which was a pity, because They is utterly chilling and deliciously sinister – a whole generation of readers have missed out on this little gem of ambiguity

Although I am including this post in Novellas in November I’m not sure I can really call it a novella. Is it a novella made up of nine chapters or is it a collection of nine interconnected short stories? It’s a murky distinction.

They appears to be narrated by the same person in each chapter, although we do not know their name or gender. Mystery also surrounds ‘They’ – the unnamed, unknown Luddite movement with a philistine philosophy who are slowly but surely stealing and destroying all art and culture while either killing, maiming or ‘re-educating’ loners, artists and creatives. They are mostly clandestine in nature but the threat of cruelty is never far away.

_{They never came when one was in the house. In their view confrontation was an unnecessary waste of energy, a luxury they withheld. Silent stealth was a greater pain to bear; it was their form of punishment. They only took sharper measures if one went beyond the accepted limit.}

This world is frightening and ominous, all the more so because we never really see it clearly. Part of surviving requires our narrator to not see or hear what shouldn’t be seen of heard. But the one thing the narrator can see is the natural environment. As the chapters evolve, so too do the idyllic descriptions of the English landscape. The contrast between these evocative rural scenes and the creeping dread is compelling.

It’s a pity the subtitle is left off this Faber Editions cover as ‘a sequence of unease’ depicts the mood of this dystopian story perfectly. The uneasiness builds and develops with each vignette; a little more is revealed but most goes unexplained. We are all left guessing in the end.

They like it like that!

_{It’s when you try and forget that trouble begins. That’s the way they approach, through the unguarded moment.}

After thought: what is the opposite of embossed? The title is indented? furrowed? etched? into the cover of my edition. I enjoyed running my fingers over it every time I picked it up. Which is why I will always prefer a physical book to an ebook – I love the tactile nature of paper and cardboard and how they come together with the author’s words to create an object of beauty and imagination.

ISBN: 9780571370863
Imprint: Faber Editions
Published: 3rd February 2022 (originally published 1977)
Format: Paperback with French flaps
Pages: 107
Origin: TBR
Dates Read: 10 - 20 November 2023

This post was written on the traditional land of the Wangal clan, one of the 29 clans of the Eora Nation within the Sydney basin. This Reading Life recognises the continuous custodianship & connection to Country of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for the lands, seas & skies on which we live. They are this nations first storytellers.