The End of Romance (Maria Takolander, Text)

In her debut novel, The End of Romance, Maria Takolander presents a dystopian world in which all boys are conscripted to the army at 16, sent on a mission from which they never return. In this imagined future, vast areas of Earth have become sterile, and a persistent fog hangs over the landscape.

The novel holds an eerie, sombre tone, which is emphasised by Takolander’s choice to leave the main characters unnamed. It follows a mother and her son, who is already attending military school and nearing the age when he will be sent to fight in the colonising war in the Promised Land. While the boy appears to accept his fate, his mother begins to question the system, especially after she meets a young man who has, inexplicably, avoided conscription and reluctantly agrees to help her. What follows is a tense and dangerous journey as the mother, her son and this mysterious man attempt to reach a supposed sanctuary.

The narrative engages with themes of resistance, patriarchy, elitism and the fight against the normalisation of things we should not accept. Its stark environmental backdrop – coupled with an undercurrent of urgency around climate collapse – places it within the cli-fi genre. Takolander’s background as a poet is evident in her prose, which brings this disturbing setting to life.

Despite the weight of its themes, The End of Romance has moments of hope, ultimately asking what gives life meaning under oppressive conditions. It will appeal to readers of Clare Moleta’s Unsheltered, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Charlotte Wood’s The Natural Way of Things.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Nadia Heisler is a CaLD (culturally and linguistically diverse) writer originally from Brazil with a background in journalism. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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