Muriella Pent

Robin Chamberlain is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University.

In Muriella Pent, Russell Smith describes the intersections of several
lives that, from the outside, seem to be unremarkable, but that become
remarkable under the author’s ability to see both the beauty and the
absurdity in people and society—particularly the pretentious Toronto
literary and artistic crowd whom he so deftly skewers. The novel is,
among other things, the story of a middle-aged widow’s self-awakening
and its effects on those whom she affects and is, in turn, affected by:
Marcus Royston, a Caribbean poet living in her house as part of a
cultural exchange; Julia Sterberg, the daughter of one of Muriella’s
friends; and Brian Stillwell, an insecure but intelligent university
student. These four characters become entangled in each other’s lives,
awakening potential—sexual, artistic, social—within each other and
within themselves as they do.

Muriella Pent is something of a collage in terms of both form and
genre. It is told through a mixture of dialogue, letters, newspaper
articles, and diary entries, interspersed with creative writing by the
various characters, most notably Marcus’s poetry. The novel is also
part lament for something intangible that has been lost, part picaresque
sexual romp, and part biting satire on the manners and mores of the
motley crew who make up the local arts scene. Ultimately, Muriella Pent
is an exploration of what it means to feel alive.