Fragile Animals by Genevieve Jagger
RIYL: Dealing with religious trauma, character study literary fiction, vampires
In Genevieve Jagger’s debut novel Fragile Animals, protagonist Noelle – a writer in her early 20s - escapes from her mysterious traumatic urban life to a remote Scottish island, ostensibly to rewrite her second book of poetry. She’s staying in a bed and breakfast run by a quirky old woman, but, as it turns out, there’s one other guest. Oh, and he’s a vampire. You might think you know where this is going.
This setup might lead potential readers to expect this is a horror-infused romance, or one of the many “romantasy” books dominating the literary landscape nowadays, but it’s not that at all. Fragile Animals is a piece of literary fiction about Noelle’s trauma, where the only real plot is the continual revelation of what happened in her past and how she might move forward. These non-chronological flashbacks are framed around her parents’ divorce (marked by the use of BC [Before Crisis] and AD [After Divorce]) and are occasionally interspersed with Noelle’s present interactions with her host, and more importantly, with her fellow guest, the vampire Moses. Moses is not a traditional romantic leading man; he’s described as at least looking twice her age and as not particularly attractive, but soon the two strike up a messy flirtatious dynamic using each other as confessional soundboards to their many tales of past lovers and sexual encounters. Moses quickly reveals that he’s a vampire, and though we learn enough to know that he believes this, it’s never quite definitely proven, and the question of whether he truly is one or not is not really dwelt on, and nor should it be. There’s certainly a propulsion to their relationship, such as it is, that kept me turning the pages, but really, the book lives and dies on its poetic prose and its deep dive into Noelle’s trauma – in particular, her religious trauma.
This is a deeply Catholic book, or perhaps, a deeply ex-Catholic book, where Noelle’s liaison with a vampire just one thematic example of her attempts to build a self-identity separate to her domineering mother and the stranglehold both she and their faith still hold on Noelle, even years since she’s spoken to her mother or attempted faith. Noelle is consumed by grief and self-hatred, throwing herself from ill-advised fling to messily short relationship with abandon. Is Moses someone who can jolt her out of her darkness, or is he merely the latest example of it?
As a work of literary fiction, Fragile Animals rests on Jagger’s appropriately-poetic prose (which at times verges into the overwrought but only just) and on her ability to conjure up insightful personal revelations about her protagonist. She succeeds pretty well on both these fronts, and by the end of my read I had a good sense of who Noelle is, and how she and many other people are indelibly formed by their flawed parents and broken to fit the shape of their overriding faiths. Ultimately though, I did find the entire experience a little slight, and wished for the book’s real dark turns and flourishes to be explored in greater detail. Like many other books that lightly dip their toes into genre or the supernatural, I think they’d be improved by sinking a little deeper into that well of inspiration. All that said, if the idea of this kind of in-depth character study is appealing to you, I think Fragile Animals is well worth the read.
Rating: *** 1/2
Fragile Animals is set to publish on April 25, 2024.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.