After my cousin Taggy lost her first reading competition against me - abandoning the reading of Henry James’s Portrait of a Lady after a few chapters as she deemed it slow and boring, I decided to take my sweet revenge by buying her a few books that I’ve always wanted to read but never had the time for.
One of those books was Tony and Susan by American writer Austin Wright (1922-2003) that I read in Spanish a decade back and wanted to re-read again. Finding the book online was a challenge as I gave the book to my Colombian friend without finding out the original English title. Neither did I remember the alternative Spanish title nor for some reason, did I think the author was an American female from the 1960’s!
So, after a semi-Eureka moment where I remembered the Spanish title being ‘before night’ instead of ‘three nights’ and with the help of my genius friend Google - who knew exactly what I was looking for and displayed the flashy red cover within seconds, I managed to find the original English version and asked my brother to buy us two copies for our next reading competition.
Taggy wasn’t convinced by my choice as the book was described as an ‘American Cult Classic’ yet she decided to give it a chance after hearing my praises (though I didn’t remember it well!).
Within a few days of starting the competition, Taggy managed to finish the book and win while I took my own sweet time. Tony and Susan tell the story of Susan Morrow, an English professor who receives a manuscript from her ex-husband Edward with a note saying that he’d be visiting her city in three days and would like to meet up to hear her opinion about it.
The novel is titled ‘Nocturnal Animals’ and narrates the story of Tony Hastings, a mathematician who goes on a road trip with his wife and daughter to their summer home in Maine.
On their way there, they’re confronted by a bandit of three men who kidnap the ladies and leave Tony in the middle of nowhere. Tony finds his way back to the nearest town, where he contacts the local Sherriff to report the incident and wait for news of his family.
Once they’re found, Tony’s worst nightmare begins as he struggles between the desire to revenge and the tendency to forgive and move on. The novel is divided into three parts that Susan reads each night.
The reader is instantly put in Susan’s place when reading the manuscript and afterwards while she’s spending her Christmas break; how her time is divided between children, pets, house chores and thinking of Arnold, her heart surgeon husband and the children’s father who’s attending a conference in another city. The reader also gets caught in thoughts and memories of how she married Edward and later Arnold.
The book is cleverly written and is thoroughly engaging although it leaves the reader with mixed feelings between the novel itself (Susan’s story and emotional struggle) and Edward’s gripping yet shocking-at-times manuscript.
Tony and Susan novel was published in 1993 in a small press after being rejected by 11 major publishing houses. A year later, it became critically acclaimed and got translated into thirteen languages.
In 2016, the book was adapted into a movie called Nocturnal Animals directed by Tom Ford, starring Jake Gyllenhall and Isla Fisher (available on Netflix). It was nominated for several awards including BAFTA, the Oscars, and The Golden Globes where it won Best Supporting Actor. Tony and Susan is fascinating and a must-read.
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