The process of grieving is individualistic, and there is certainly not one way to grieve. Grief is unique to the person going through it, based on the circumstances surrounding the death itself and the past experiences that person has had with the deceased. There is no right or wrong, no good or bad way to feel sorrow or pain; it just happens the way that it does. For some, grieving is cathartic. For others, it creates more emotionally-charged problems and behaviors. And for others still, it can lead to a chaotic situation that spirals out of control. Augustine Cerf’s new novel Compensation, unfortunately for the three main characters, is more about chaos than catharsis. It is also a narratively complete and well-constructed story about three broken people who are trying to find solace in their respective times of need.
Early on it is established that Charlotte and Erik, an unhappily married couple living somewhere in the UK, lose their stay-at-home adult son, Georges, to suicide. This sends Charlotte into a deep depression, which leads to her asking Erik, who is a respected surgeon, to get access to the body so he can extract Georges’s semen in the hopes that she (Charlotte) can once again have a child like Georges. Erik, much to his dismay and against his better judgment, obliges Charlotte’s request; however, this twisted action makes Erik want to distance himself further from his already estranged wife. He finds his comfort in watching pornography and in his sexual fantasies surrounding Lena, an undocumented house cleaner who regularly gets tortured by Charlotte but needs the job to ensure she makes enough money to take care of herself and her loving partner, Imogene. Admittedly, the storyline sounds a bit cliché, which is cheekily spoken about in a meta-sort-of way in the novel; but what makes Compensation unique is that Lena, even though she is not favored by Charlotte, is later asked to be a surrogate to ensure Georges’s clone-baby is carried to term. This big ask is Lena’s window of opportunity to leave what is truly a toxic situation, and build a happy and fulfilling life; and it is that specific choice that culminates to a brilliant and somewhat shocking ending to all three of their upsetting stories.
Compensation is fascinating and truthful study on the power of grief and more specifically on how parents handle the sudden death of a child, no matter what age. As stated above, grieving is individualistic and can lead to all sorts of uncommon behaviors, most especially if the individual dies at their own hands; and, in this case, readers are experiencing people who may be living together but are very much in their own respective bubbles while facing this tragedy. In fact, one can argue this dysfunctional triangle of lost souls want nothing to do with each other. They are forced to stick together based more so on necessity and obligation, and Cerf, with this magnificent debut, allows readers to have enough breathing room to psychoanalyze each case as they wish without much in the way of judgment or disdain. Yes, all three protagonists (or antagonists) make questionable decisions but who wouldn’t in a tenuous situation such as this one? In essence, Cerf allows the characters to behave emotionally while we, the readers, are asked to be the objective critical thinkers to a melodramatic play that all of us know is destined to not end well.