Book Review: Everywhere We Look by Martine Kropkowski
Everywhere We Look is Martine Kropkowski’s debut novel, published by Ultimo Press in Sydney in 2024, that explores themes of female friendship and grief in the aftermath of a family tragedy caused by male violence.
The story begins in the last week of January, the start of the school year, with four women buying school supplies for their children, then connecting during the school drop-off and pick-up, and forming friendships. The women all have unique and complicated personalities that enhance their bond, which would never have formed if not for the common element of their children.
We are then taken forward in time to when the three main protagonists, Melissa, Bridie, and Cassandra, meet up for a retreat in the small outback town of Marcoy, where the story takes on an "outback noir" tone.
On the way to the retreat, Melissa swerves to miss a kangaroo and is spooked by the two men who assist her in changing her tyre after she rolls into an embankment. She has not ventured out for the last year and has abandoned her career in forestry. She wants to turn around and go home but decides to proceed and meet her friends at the cabin.
We are then introduced to Bridie, the "stepmother" of the group, who has recently had a son after years of struggling to conceive. She feels unappreciated in her role in her ready-made family as she tries to live up to her husband's former wife, Janice, and feels threatened by their amicable co-parenting. This insecurity is exacerbated by a mysterious toilet flush she hears during a phone call with her husband when he was supposed to be home alone with their son.
As for Cassandra, she is using the retreat to escape the weaponised incompetence of her husband, with whom she has initiated separation proceedings. She also wants to reconnect with her friends after a splintering within their previously tight friendship.
The women find themselves embroiled in the drama of the small town when they are introduced to Maggie, a young girl who is trying to escape the town and her abusive father. They are forced to confront their own memories of abuse and the effects it has had on them when they witness her being forced into a car by her abusive father. The people of the town spring into action after she is reported missing with her father’s gun.
Sarah, the fourth and an absent mother, appears in flashbacks as the chapters concentrate on each woman's point of view and their recollections of the year before. In these flashbacks, she is portrayed as an involved mother and supportive friend who loves children and is the main connection between the women, becoming a major part of their lives. As the story progresses, we learn that Sarah and her two daughters, Maddie and Alexis, were murdered by her husband in an act of family annihilation. The women each have their separate feelings of shock, disbelief, guilt, and anger over the loss of their friend and her daughters as they try to pinpoint missed opportunities where they could have helped.
The impact of her death is different for each woman. Melissa retreats to a place in her mind for a year to put off dealing with her trauma and the rest of the world, including her job and family. Bridie chooses to move past it, and she has her baby to focus on, allowing her to avoid the guilt she feels for not making sure Sarah was safe when she saw her crying in a car park. Cassandra decides to leave her husband, whom she could never rely on and who left her to carry the domestic load throughout their marriage while she tried to maintain a career. This decision is cemented when Alec states that Sarah's husband seemed like a "good bloke" even after witnessing him disrespect Sarah during a family gathering.
Everywhere We Look explores the epidemic of male violence against women and children in a nuanced way that does not delve into the act itself but instead into the way it affects the people left behind. It looks at how community vigilance can be utilised to address the issue, hold perpetrators accountable, and create an environment where the "good bloke" reference is no longer used to minimise acts of male violence.
Kropkowski tackles the issue of domestic violence and places the root cause at the feet of the perpetrators, shutting down the narrative that places the responsibility on the victim to leave. She states that it usually takes seven times for a victim to escape because the perpetrator lies about changing seven times.
Kropkowski creates tension and an atmosphere of underlying menace as she chronicles the women’s interactions with men in the small town. As a woman, I could relate to that sense of foreboding that they felt, because you never know which man you encounter could be a threat, especially when one that you have known for years commits a heinous crime against his family. She also illustrates the inner turmoil that we feel when we miss or downplay the signs that we could have acted on and helped a loved one escape the cycle of violence or coercive control.
As a mother who has developed deep and long-lasting friendships that started outside of my children's classrooms, I could relate to the women and their camaraderie during those first few years of school for our children. We support each other during trying times, celebrate our successes, and sometimes make questionable decisions together. We build communities for our children and create friendships with people we normally wouldn't come across. I have also discovered those unspoken secrets each person has and the stories that they never tell until a relationship breaks down or after a traumatic event that irrevocably alters their opinion of someone, making them question their ability to assess another person's character.
As difficult as the subject was, this story is highly relatable with a satisfying ending that adds a new perspective on an issue that has been prevalent in our society for so long. Kropkowski flips the switch on how we look at men’s violence against their families, dispels the "good bloke" myth, and instead focuses on the way that male violence affects society as a whole.
You can buy the book here.
Kel McDonough
Marketing and Digital Associate