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.