Walking down any New York City street, you’ll inevitably see scaffolding, no matter the time or place. Paris — the city of love and backdrop for Lauren Elkin’s “Scaffolding” — is no different. These temporary structures conceal what lies beneath, often for years. After a while, the drilling, hammering and beeping of construction become background noise. In Elkin’s highly-anticipated debut novel, her characters construct an emotional scaffolding in their personal lives as they attempt to support and save their failing relationships.
“Scaffolding” fulfills any reader’s wish to explore the psychology of desire in relationships. The book explores marital expectations, infidelity and pregnancy through the stories of two women, Anna and Florence, who live in the same apartment 50 years apart. In 2019, Anna, a psychoanalyst, experiences a psychological breakdown of her own caused by a recent miscarriage and unfulfilling marriage. 50 years earlier, Florence lives in the same unit with her husband, Henry, while finishing her degree in psychology.
Though the two women never meet, their stories contain clear parallels. In the same small unit — only 70 square meters — they both build towering emotional barriers between themselves and their respective partners. Their unexpressed emotions and personal aspirations lead them to yearn for other lovers to satisfy their needs.
Anna has it all, but after a miscarriage, everything stops — feeling unsettled in her married life and betrayed by her body, her life is suddenly disorderly and hopeless. Amidst her marital issues, Anna contemplates the possibility of rekindling her relationship with her college ex, who, by fate, happens to be dating her neighbor Clémentine, to whom she is also attracted. To regain some control, Elkin skillfully constructs a parallel situation in which Anna obsesses over the renovation of her life while renovating her kitchen.
In the second half of the narrative, Elkin alternates chapters between Florence and Henry’s perspectives. The reader learns about their conflicting desires, but the characters fail to communicate clearly with each other. This choice underscores their failure to completely give themselves to each other and take on their partner’s desires as their own — Florence wishes to have a child, while Henry isn’t quite sure he is ready for fatherhood. The couple struggles to overcome their consistently differing aspirations, and ultimately, unexpressed emotions split the delicate walls of their marriage. Elkin exposes their fear of feeling trapped, highlighting the temporary and fragile foundation of their relationship.
Her short paragraph style reflects her characters’ restlessness. They search outside their home lives for fulfillment, and the reader eagerly turns the pages to discover their next choice. This style also forces readers to pause and reflect on the novel’s plot. While reading, I often found myself pausing to question my own desires and motivations behind them.
Our past is filled with the places we have been, both emotionally and physically. Moving through people and places, Elkin’s characters are unable to truly devote themselves to their relationships — they are constantly distracted by desires for something more. Through their introspection, Elkin unravels the psyche and human desire for fulfillment. Any experience they had in past relationships sets them up for greater disappointment in future ones. They treat their marriages like scaffolding, waiting for them to be torn down and reveal someone more satisfying. Walking around the city, the elegant exterior of a newly cleaned building pleases the eye, but this beauty is fleeting. The scaffolding will inevitably go up again as it does for Elkin’s characters.
Contact Siobhán Minerva at [email protected].
