Book Review – Breathing in Colour by Clare Jay
Novel Set in India Focuses on Synaesthesia and the Loss of a Child
May 10, 2009
Novels set in India always seem to be filled with rich imagery, and Breathing in Colour (Piatkus, 2009) is no exception. The twist in this story lies in the character of Mia – a synaesthete– whose life has always been filled with an overload of sensation.
Breathing in Colour
Londoner Alida Salter receives a phone call that turns her world upside down. Her eighteen year old daughter Mia has disappeared while backpacking through India, and the Indian police cannot guarantee that she will be found alive. Immediately Alida packs her bags and flies to search for her.
It is in India that Alida begins to know her daughter again, thirteen years after a tragedy divided them. Discovering a series of collages painted by Mia, Alida is set on finding her daughter, even when all hope seems lost. She is accompanied by the enigmatic Australian artist, Taos, who in helping Alida in her search, also helps her reconnect with a part of her past that she has always kept hidden.
Synaesthesia Facts
The Oxford English Dictionary defines synaesthesia (also spelled synesthesia) as “the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body”. This can manifest itself as:
- Black printed letters or numbers have colour, or a personality
- music is seen in color
- days, weeks or months of the year appear in shapes like squares, circles and ovals
- sounds or words have a taste
- tastes have shapes
- faces have an aura
- sounds have smells or temperature
The condition is involuntary, and while it is usually discovered in childhood, many synaesthetes do not realise that what they are experiencing is any different to other people until later in life.
In Breathing in Colour Mia’s synaesthetic experiences are particularly strong, and can be triggered by many factors. The parts of the novel that are written as her diary entries are full of descriptive imagery that conveys to the reader how life must be like for her – arguments fill the air with ashes, her mother evokes warm vanilla custard, an encounter with a flying insect leaves her in distress.
A Novel Rich in Imagery and Emotion
Readers follow two journeys throughout Breathing in Colour. Mia’s journey is told in flashbacks through her diary entries. Although the diaries are written in the present, Mia recounts the events of her childhood as though she were experiencing them as a child. Alida’s story is more linear, describing her search for her daughter, but there are moments of her own writing that are in the first person, as she too reflects upon the tragic event that has shaped her relationship with her daughter.
The smells, tastes and colours of India provide Alida with a tangible equivalent to Mia’s synaesthesia. She enters almost a dream-like state – partly due to the shock and fear for her daughter’s safety, and partly as a reaction to the sensory overload of the foreign country.
Breathing in Colour is an exquisitely told story of a mother’s search for her daughter – both physically and emotionally.
Breathing in Colour (ISBN: 978-0-7499-2978-7, 280 pages)
Reference: Synesthesia Down Under
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