Review: All the Birds, Singing
Gaby Meares
It’s very hard to comment on this book without referring to its win of this year’s Miles Franklin, and comparing it to Richard Flanagan’s masterpiece, which I have also read, and loved.
I liked the clever play with masculine/feminine names and gender roles. Wyld’s descriptions of the contrasting landscapes our narrator, Jake, finds herself, are brilliantly drawn. And I feel Wyld’s greatest strength is her ability to make the reader, hear, smell and feel what is happening in this story. A lot of what happens, however, is quite terrible, so I was left with a reasonably unpleasant aftertaste. I also found the ending disappointing, and inconclusive.
I will be interested to see what Evie Wyld does next.
As another reviewer has said, this is a good book, but not a great book.