Perth writer Carrie Cox explores notions of beauty, scars and how we really see ourselves in her latest novel called Storylines.
By Ara Jansen
When Carrie Cox starts thinking about writing a book, it’s usually because an idea or an issue has caught her attention.
In the case of her newly released third novel, Storylines, it was issues about the human condition and several gnawing ideas – how we cover up and hide our own stories to fit society’s standards, expectations and how social media is bombarding and controlling our notions of what beauty is and how that makes us vulnerable.
“I was thinking a lot about what beauty is,” says Cox, a Perth author and journalist. “What makes a person beautiful? And why? It sent me down this rabbit hole on the philosophy of beauty and its history and to what degree it’s subjective.
“We live in an Instagram world and that influences people’s decisions and perceptions. Running tandem to the idea of beauty is the modern notion of vulnerability. Social media is encouraging us to be so much more vulnerable, but doing so doesn’t mean the world will handle you with kid gloves.”
All these ideas, information and themes swirled around in her brain until they coalesced into Storylines. Told from the perspective of 30-something Nessa, she is hiding from the world and running a wellness retreat after a horrific car accident has left her face scarred. She’s choosing to keep the world at arm’s length and while her circle is small, there are people trying to break down those walls.
“I wanted to amplify the idea of a person for whom navigating mainstream life from the aesthetic point of view is a tricky proposition.”
While not a major influence on the book, but still important, has been Cox’s own journey with facial scarring because of the removal of skin cancers, which she covers up daily. Once again amplified for the sake of the book, is Nessa’s lengthy and gruelling morning make-up routine.
“Most women have their hair and make-up routines and sometimes all I can do is whack on enough concealer to show up in the world and not draw attention to myself. I find that can be really tedious – and yet I do it.
“It’s not about vanity but it’s about being able to have a free an open conversation while people are not looking at my scars. Nessa is trying to do the same thing, so people get past it and engage with her.”
Cox is fascinated about how people perceive themselves and each other, and she wanted to explore this by choosing to use Nessa as the narrator in the first person, a voice which can often be highly distorted. Throw in the age of filters and social media misrepresentation and it might just be hard to find the true you.
Cox stresses it’s not a story about an ugly duckling becoming a swan, but how being pushed into vulnerable situations, forces Nessa to face her worth.
“Our contemporary society demands a lot about how we should look. This story amplifies the idea of having an aesthetically challenging face and how that might change the way we walk through life.
“Far from becoming enlightened, I think we have created a world the exact opposite of that. What’s on the inside is harder to find and we’re more likely to make snap judgments about people based on their sound bite as what they look like.”
Storylines is out now through Affirm Press (RRP $34.99).