Greek tragedy

Australian author Amy Taylor's second novel investigates the fallout of a holiday threesome.

- BY BRIGID FEEHAN

I'm concerned that an experience like that could complicate things,” Julian says to his girlfriend Emma early on in Melbourne-based Amy Taylor's second novel.

The experience he is referring to is a threesome Emma is urging him to participate in, with a young Greek woman called Lena. It's no spoiler to say that Julian gives in and, yes, things get very complicated.

The two 30-something Londoners are spending a stultifyingly hot summer in Athens, staying in an elegant, centrally located flat lent to them by a friend of the well-connected Julian. Julian is an academic working on a research paper in the city library, while Emma explores the noisy, bustling streets, treating each walk “with the same respect she would give an occupation”.

Emma had a miscarriage in London and immediately afterwards left her advertising job, apparently on a whim. Julian thinks she is grieving the miscarriage, but she’s secretly relieved, hoping that she and Julian can now “throw themselves into new experiences” instead of settling down.