Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
Bold, confident and sexy, Julia May Jonas' debut novel Vladimir tells two interweaving tales of desire and betrayal
Vladimir is a dark, propulsive debut which is, on the surface, a tale of two parallels. It’s the story of a wife who struggles to support her English professor husband in the face of a slew of accusations from his former students at the college where they both work. Equally, it is the story of a married woman who becomes increasingly obsessed with a charismatic younger colleague and the ever more drastic lengths she will go to in a bid to become the object of his desire. As the story progresses, the two strands weave together and hurtle towards an inevitable, explosive end.
Part of what makes Vladimir compelling is the narrator’s honesty which is unashamed, at times uncomfortable and causes the reader to undulate between admiration and disdain for a woman who seems hellbent on chasing down the attention of a married man while grappling with emotions about her own husband’s betrayal which, in many ways, mirrors her own behaviour. The narrator’s obsession with Vladimir inverts the typical older man, younger woman trope which is nonetheless addressed through her husband; his impending behavioural conduct hearing creates an interesting dichotomy which forces the reader to examine multiple viewpoints of an extremely complex web of desire, deceit, power and immorality. Bold, confident and sexy, Vladimir is a debut that is sure to divide opinions and start conversations.
