Only a year after Richard Flanagan's The Unknown Terrorist, came Orpheus Lost by Janet Turner Hospital, and though JTH's is an infinitely better novel, it's no coincidence that these two authors were writing about issues arising from Western governments' responses to 9/11. By the middle of that decade there was deep disquiet around the world about the human rights of those suspected of terrorism. The legitimate fear of mass casualties from Al Qaeda's attacks had led to practices previously abhorred by the West: torture, detention without trial, the abrogation of habeas corpus; imprisonment under inhumane conditions; an excess of covert surveillance; and the suspension of legal representation for suspects on the grounds of national security. Public panic was exploited by politicians, effectively silencing all objections. Authors who spoke out against all this were rare.

This was a gripping novel. Leela, from 'Paradise Land' in the US Bible Belt meets Jewish-Lebanese Mishka Bartok from the Daintree Rainforest, and they fall in love. They are both students in Boston: she's doing the maths of music and he's doing the music of the Middle East. They make a lot of passionate love.

But Mishka goes to a mosque (to hear their music) and meets a man who says he recognises him as the son of a radical Islamist. This is the catalyst for Mishka, who has never known his father, and whose grandparents are Holocaust survivors, to set off for Baghdad with a false passport. This is because his identity is fragile and he thinks that finding his missing father will help him to resolve who he really is. He realises that he may not like his father or what he stands for (especially because as a fundamentalist, his father would abhor music), but Mishka feels that he needs to know.

Into this messy situation comes Cobb Slaughter, a childhood 'friend' of Leela, the son of a veteran of the Iraq war, and a private security consultant. He's a gung-ho military man with a penchant for summary justice and torture. Slaughter becomes suspicious of these visits to the mosque and Mishka's association with suspected terrorists. When Mishka disappears, he gets Leela arrested and has Mishka 'renditioned', a practice by which the Americans send their suspects to friendly nations who are less squeamish about torture, to do their dirty work for them.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2022/01/16/orpheus-lost-by-janet-turner-hospital/ ( )

When I started this book, I was thinking maybe an 8 but as the story progressed, I became more and more captivated by it.
Leela a gifted mathematician is studying in Boston. While waiting in the subway to catch a train she and others are enchanted by the sound of a violin playing classical music. When she finds the source, an attractive young man, she is drawn to him. She follows him and their friendship evolves into a passionate love story. They immerse themselves in each other and their love of their work until a terrorist attack disrupts the tenor of their life. Mishka, a young Australian musician of Jewish descent, is also the son of an international terrorist, something he is unaware of. Leela is picked up and taken in for questioning, because of her association with Mishka. Leela, too, had been unaware that they were being spied on by none other than a friend and maths rival from her small home town. Cobb Slaughter is filled with both fascination and obsession over Leela and enjoys the chance to intimidate her. However, events soon spiral out of control and the reader is exposed to the underworld of terror and torture. ( )

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It may not really come as a surprise that this book is like a modern retelling of the story of Orpheus and Euridice. Although in this book, 'Orpheus' gets lost (the title is already spoiling it, really).



Mishka is a musician, and ironically plays a piece of music about Orpheus on multiple occasions. He's also looking for his Lebanese father, which brings him into a world of terrorism. His girlfriend sets out to find him and bring him back. Sounds familiar huh?



The book has a lot of different setting, America (multiple places), Middle East and Australia. The switching between the places/times got me a bit out of the flow of the book. The story itself was quite interesting and I did like the writing, although it was at times a bit slow. ( )

Ever passed a busker in the street and thought he was someone you would like to get to know well? This is what happens in this story from this great writer. However, there's a lot of mystery behind our busker and being with him may not be completely safe, not if the security man is telling the truth. ( )

This is a literate thriller which truly will keep you reading until the wee hours of the night. Leela meets and falls in love with Mishka, both students in Boston. Mishka has a mysterious past but Leela's own past in a small southern town arrives to haunt her. Admidst a terrorist attack and post 9/11 paranoia the story is a whirlwind of passion and betrayal which matches the brilliance of her previous novel, 'Due Preparations for the Plague'. ( )