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katdid's review
4.0
This was so great! It was like a grown-up and very-much-improved version of [b:Jasper Jones|8407173|Jasper Jones|Craig Silvey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1275886753s/8407173.jpg|6560290]. All the characters were really well-drawn and the settings completely realised. The plot didn’t play out the way I expected it to either but in a good way. .
Spoiler
I mean, I always assumed Kath would return because it was way too dramatic a moment to resist in any narrative, but I didn’t expect Bruce to be dead and I didn’t expect Laura to take ownership of her past actions and confide in Vik. I empathised with Laura a lot actually (especially the being-so-busy-in-the-city-her-dad’s-withering-away-from-dementia-in-isolation-and-she-ignores-what-she-doesn’t-want-to-see part); she could have been really unlikeable ‘cause of her martyrdom but somehow she was very sympathetic, even before she came clean about what she’d done as a childtasmanian_bibliophile's review
4.0
‘The note was neatly creased. A white square.’
As the story opens, Laura is ten years old. She lives with her parents and her younger sister Vik on a farm. Her mother Kath is a potter, trying to find time to create. Laura’s father, Bruce, is angry when Kath disappears into her studio, ignoring housework and other demands of family. Kath herself is angry. And then she disappears.
A search fails to find any trace of Kath. Where is she? Is she dead? What has happened? Laura knows something about Kath’s disappearance, but keeps it secret. This secret becomes part of a burden of responsibility that Laura carries on her own for years.
‘But how was a family meant to look, after one of them had died?’
Laura grows up quickly, becoming a mother for Vik who, at five years of age, misses her mother terribly. Time passes. Vik grows up, and escapes from the farm, to a career in the city. Laura leaves too, but returns when her father becomes ill. Her own life is put on hold. Again.
‘All her life, the small square of space reserved for herself was threatened, constantly under siege.’
The farm has been failing for years. Bruce’s management of the land, as though it can be conquered and wrestled into submission, has resulted in the soil blowing away. Clear-felling, erosion, flood, fire and drought wreak their own havoc. And Laura? What is her future?
This novel spans thirty five years, and has at least three separate aspects. First, it’s Laura’s story: her life, her choices, the consequences. Secondly, it’s about the environment we live in: how we seek to control the land, how different people relate to it and how, ultimately environment (physical and emotional) shapes us. Thirdly, it’s about the different ways in which people respond to circumstances, to change, to each other. And right at the end of the novel, in the near future, is a reminder that the city is never separate from the country.
I found this novel incredibly moving, and at times uncomfortable. I found myself wondering about each of the main characters and their choices. About Laura’s capacity, sacrifice and strength. And more broadly, about the way in which we seek to impose our will – on the land, on each other. Yes, I think this is a novel I need to reread.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
As the story opens, Laura is ten years old. She lives with her parents and her younger sister Vik on a farm. Her mother Kath is a potter, trying to find time to create. Laura’s father, Bruce, is angry when Kath disappears into her studio, ignoring housework and other demands of family. Kath herself is angry. And then she disappears.
A search fails to find any trace of Kath. Where is she? Is she dead? What has happened? Laura knows something about Kath’s disappearance, but keeps it secret. This secret becomes part of a burden of responsibility that Laura carries on her own for years.
‘But how was a family meant to look, after one of them had died?’
Laura grows up quickly, becoming a mother for Vik who, at five years of age, misses her mother terribly. Time passes. Vik grows up, and escapes from the farm, to a career in the city. Laura leaves too, but returns when her father becomes ill. Her own life is put on hold. Again.
‘All her life, the small square of space reserved for herself was threatened, constantly under siege.’
The farm has been failing for years. Bruce’s management of the land, as though it can be conquered and wrestled into submission, has resulted in the soil blowing away. Clear-felling, erosion, flood, fire and drought wreak their own havoc. And Laura? What is her future?
This novel spans thirty five years, and has at least three separate aspects. First, it’s Laura’s story: her life, her choices, the consequences. Secondly, it’s about the environment we live in: how we seek to control the land, how different people relate to it and how, ultimately environment (physical and emotional) shapes us. Thirdly, it’s about the different ways in which people respond to circumstances, to change, to each other. And right at the end of the novel, in the near future, is a reminder that the city is never separate from the country.
I found this novel incredibly moving, and at times uncomfortable. I found myself wondering about each of the main characters and their choices. About Laura’s capacity, sacrifice and strength. And more broadly, about the way in which we seek to impose our will – on the land, on each other. Yes, I think this is a novel I need to reread.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
wtb_michael's review
5.0
A stunning Australian novel about family secrets, sibling rivalry, love and what it means to be home. If this isn't on the Stella shortlist next year I'll eat my hat.
meganori's review
4.0
Beautifully written and well developed story. The characters and the Australian rural setting were real and had depth. 4.5 stars
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