| book review |
When We Lost Our Heads
by Samantha Hanchett , Marketing & Outreach Coordinator , Thomas County Public Library
Looking at the cover and reading the flap of this book , one may enter into Heather O ’ Neill ’ s most recent novel thinking that they will be enjoying some version of a Marie Antionette story . Given the title and name of one of the main characters , it would be natural to make that guess . Well , the similarities stop there … apart from the cakes and sugar .
When We Lost Our Heads tells the story of two rather haughty women . Marie Antione , a golden-haired beauty and obscenely wealthy heiress to a sugar factory fortune , whose silhouette is stamped across every bag . And Sadie Arnett , the dark-locked and deeply un-loved daughter of two political social climbers , whose every action is driven to fulfill her artistic needs . At twelve , the two are magnetically attracted to each other , becoming inseparable , and their mutual feelings of being untouchable - Marie because of her beauty , wealth and social status and Sadie due to her apathy toward society and intense distaste of her family ’ s relentless drive to rise up the hierarchy – lead them to a moment in time that alters the course of both their lives , drives them apart and sends them each on a path of self-destruction .
While this is a story about a doomed and toxic friendship , it is at its core a story about women . The book is filled with energy toward the oppression and squelching of female power , spirit and beauty . Every female character is an embodiment of La Révolution : be it the “ witch ” Jeanne-Pauline Marat ; the entrepreneur Mary Robespierre ; or the gender-fluid , fullhearted Georgina Danton . The gender switch of these roles plays into O ’ Neill ’ s truth that women ’ s revolt has been “ written in invisible ink ” and this story is just one of many that “ put the page up against the window and lets a light shine through ”.
The novel moves from a light-hearted playfulness into a deep seriousness . It is not a book for the sensitive reader . O ’ Neill does not underplay the horrific treatment of women during the century and touches ( but does not dwell ) on unpleasant truths and violent acts taken upon them . Both heartbreaking and repelling , you are sure to be appalled at the history of dis-
94 Winter 2023 Thomasville Scene