Michelle Johnston’s literary prowess has been apparent from the moment her debut novel, Dustfall, was released in 2018. Four years later, her poetic and cerebral examination of belief arrived in the form of Tiny Uncertain Miracles, setting the bar unreasonably high for any subsequent work.
Luckily for Johnston’s readers, her literary trajectory is exponential; her first two novels were brilliant, but The Revisionists is a masterpiece.
The Revisionists centres the split-timeline journey of journalist Christine Campbell, whose third person narrative alternates between New York in 2023 and Dagestan during the Russian invasion of 1999. Weaving between timelines until the present converges with multiple pasts, the structure of the story mirrors its themes, subtly exploring the ambiguity of authorial authenticity and the double-edged sword of silence.
The Revisionists: ambiguity of authorial authenticity
In 1999, journalist Christine Campbell travels to Dagestan, where she volunteers at her friend Frankie’s NGO practice. Christine hopes to gain journalistic momentum through proximity to stories worth telling.
Frankie wants to save the world, or at the very least, part of it. In 2023, Christine and Frankie reunite as re-shaped people, heavy with polarity and psychologically separated by mismatched distinctions between subjective truths.
The majority of the story occurs in Khumsutl; a fictional village in real-world Dagestan, which is brought to life in vivid detail, tangibly enriched by the author’s own journey to this DFAT-listed republic of Russia. Although every character in this book is entirely fictional, Johnston’s writing channels authenticity in every sense – despite the slipperiness of truth, which is itself examined from multiple angles.
When Christine arrives in Khumsutl to work at the clinic with Frankie, a rich tapestry of Dagestan life unfolds through her perspective, shaped by her own frames of reference as much as by the stories of the people she encounters.
Christine wants to ‘demythologise’ history while examining women’s wisdom within a wartime context. The tighter this ambition grips Christine, the further she teeters towards the trap of creating a myth of her own.
Christine’s 1999-self contrasts sharply against her comparatively privileged 2023 existence. On the surface, older-Christine has attained more than her younger self could reasonably have hoped for; professional validation, social status, an ugly-chic NYC apartment and more money than she can poke a Pulitzer at.
However, Christine’s unrest hints at a repressed accountability – prompting the reader to ponder what potential past means could have propelled Christine to this ambivalent end?
Throughout the earlier timeline, Christine aspires to be like conflict correspondent Angela Hollis (a stand-out character in her own right) whose lyrical journalistic coverage hints at subjectivity more than overtly embracing it.
Through Christine and Angela in particular (but not in isolation), The Revisionists engages with the question of who stories belong to and examines the moral complexity of amplification by proxy.
The split-era format adheres to the demands of the storytelling; never the other way around. The bigger picture is revealed (or is it?) through the convergence of perspectives, intense moments of reflection and perfectly paced revelation.
Johnston pours her characters onto the page with weight and realism. It is disorienting to put the book down and mentally withdraw from Christine’s repressed conflict, Frankie’s no-nonsense altruism, Angela’s intermittent vulnerability and Laurie’s squirming interference. Through Christine, the reader experiences dread, hope, loneliness and the ache of wanting.
Christine’s palpable chemistry with Jerome attaches the reader to their fragile dynamic and accentuates the lack of passion elsewhere in her life. The most important relationship in the book is arguably that of Christine and Frankie, whose 23-year friendship gap leaves holes in both their lives.
The Revisionists is dedicated to Anna Politkovskaya and Marie Colvin, conflict correspondents who were killed for their bravery. While Christine and Angela are not based on them, the essence of journalistic ambition and the urgent need to capture truth is powerfully present in the ground these characters tread.
The Revisionists: what are the ethics of benefiting from other’s tragedies?
It is rare for a title to so cleverly encapsulate the core of a story; the further into the depths a reader wades, the more the title will resonate. By the end, it is clear how many thematic layers are woven into these words. The power of language – and the pulling of the past into the present – are felt in every paragraph.
Where is the line between giving someone a voice and misappropriating their story? How are we reshaped by the experiences, people and places whose existence bleeds into our own?
What are the ethics of benefiting from the tragedy of others? How reliable are memories, and by extension, our understanding of ourselves? These are just some of the questions this book never asks (nor answers) out loud but that are embedded in the DNA of the narrative.
It is impossible not to draw parallels between The Revisionists and today’s geopolitical climate. The echoes of the Invasion of Dagestan – which precipitated the Second Chechan War – can still be felt today.
Certain elements of this story are deeply analogous to current world events, in which journalists continue to risk their lives. In which sons, brother, and fathers are still being stolen as cannon fodder and in which women are still being murdered.
The Revisionists: a culturally-resonant literary classic
Johnston is neither didactic nor remiss in her approach to these issues. She trusts the reader to draw their own parallels, but context lurks beneath the surface of her prose, heightening the emotional impact of events as they unfold. It takes great skill to comment deeply on complex concepts, without ever seeming to expand on them directly.
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Johnston has a gift for concretising the intangible.The Revisionists leans hard into this authorial strength, effortlessly expressing so much more than it appears to on the surface. Powerful, intelligent and beautifully written, it’s likely to attain future status as a culturally-resonant literary classic.
The Revisionists by Michelle Johnston is published by HarperCollins.
