Shark Heart

A woman, Wren, discovers her husband, Lewis, has a rare genetic mutation that means he is slowly turning into a shark.

It’s hard not to jump straight to thinking about Franz Kafka and in a way there is that very same sense of inevitability to Lewis’ transformation as can be found in The Metamorphosis. But the similarities surprisingly don’t run that deep. The key technical difference here is that it’s a process understood by society, and while tragic, doctors have some sort of grasp of what is happening even if they can’t stop it. We see this later on when other metamorphoses occur.

The real difference to Kafka is that this is a heartbreaking love story, and the mutation doesn’t completely take centre stage. It’s a novel, beautifully written approach to already well explored themes, where the characters grow literally and figuratively apart.

I’m not sure the second act that re-winds to explore Wren’s mother’s story in more depth is quite as effective. Where the first half of the book skips around gracefully in a non-linear narrative and uses mixed methods of storytelling (some scenes are written as scenes from a play), the second bogs down a little in a more conventional story. The first half also uses several voices to tell its story and I found myself missing that, then glad to see it come back toward the end.

It does make Shark Heart feel like a more complete work though rather than just a novella, and it didn’t lose me enough to put me off the book. In fact, I was rather taken with it. Habeck’s prose is lyrical and compelling, and there’s a freedom and effortlessness to the way she writes that makes the book a wonderful companion you don’t want to leave behind.