Episode 5.3: ‘The Ruins’ by Phoebe Wynne
We discussed Phoebe Wynne’s debut novel, ‘Madam’, in the very first season of the podcast and it’s a favourite book of both of ours. The vibes were immaculate and so we had to give ‘The Ruins’ a go too.
There’s something about the way that Wynne crafts setting and atmosphere which screamed dark academia in ‘Madam’ so we can’t wait to see her turn her hand to a sun-drenched setting and see what brings to the table.
COME FOR THE DECADENCE. LIVE THE NIGHTMARE. STAY FOR THE REVENGE. . .
Summer, 1985: Ruby has stayed at the chateau with her family every summer of her twelve years. It was her favourite place to be, away from the strictures of her formal childhood, but this year uninvited guests have descended, and everything is about to change...
As the intense August heat cloaks the chateau, the adults within start to lose sight of themselves. Old disputes are thrown back and forth, tempers rise, morals loosen, and darkness begins to creep around them all. Ruby and her two young friends soon discover it is best not to be seen or heard as the summer spirals down to one fateful night and an incident that can never be undone...
Summer, 2010: One of the three young girls, now grown and newly widowed, returns to the chateau, and in her fight to free herself from its grip, she uncovers what truly happened that long, dark summer.
With riveting psychological complexity, The Ruins captures the glittering allure of the Mediterranean, and the dark shadows that wait beneath the surface.
Will we find the makings of dark academia in the Mediterranean?
In this episode we discuss:
The treatment of women and girls in the novel and upper-class English society
The parallels between the Greek mythos of The Trojan War and the events of the novel
Phoebe Wynn’s mastery of atmosphere and setting
You can listen to it here:
TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
‘The Ruins’ by Phoebe Wynne
‘Madam’ by Phoebe Wynne
‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt
Agatha Christie’s novels
‘The Things We Do to Our Friends’ by Heather Darwent
‘Brideshead Revisited’ by Evelyn Waugh
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
‘Made in Chelsea’
The ‘mad woman in the attic’ trope
Greek mythology, particularly those surrounding
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