All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld

"From one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists, a stunningly insightful, emotionally powerful new novel about an outsider haunted by an inescapable past: a story of loneliness and survival, guilt and loss, and the power of forgiveness. Jake Whyte is living on her own in an old farmhouse on a craggy British island, a place of ceaseless rains and battering winds. Her disobedient collie, Dog, and a flock of sheep are her sole companions, which is how she wanted it to be. But every few nights something--or someone--picks off one of the sheep and sounds a new deep pulse of terror. There are foxes in the woods, a strange boy and a strange man, rumors of an obscure, formidable beast. And there is also Jake's past--hidden thousands of miles away and years ago, held in the silences about her family and the scars that stripe her back--a past that threatens to break into the present. With exceptional artistry and empathy, All the Birds, Singing reveals an isolated life in all its struggles and stubborn hopes, unexpected beauty, and hard-won redemption"--

Heard about this one on NPR and was intrigued by something of a realistic horror story. I was surprised by the back story that helps fuel the horror-ish elements of the “present”–told in a reversed chronology, the back story is (of course) more horrific and more realistic than the current-day narrative. It makes for a quite interesting read, with insights into where fear can come from (experience!), and who the worst monsters can be (hint: not strangers).

Had a hard time with this one - it was pretty good, although I was disappointed in the lack of resolution to the storylines and lack of development of some of the characters.

Winner of the 2014 Miles Franklin Literary Award

This is a mystery, but not that fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller type. All the birds, singing is more a gradual revelation, but leaves you just as hungry for answers as the classic ‘who-dunnits”.

I don't really believe in re-writing the entire synopsis of a novel for a review, but I will give a quick run-through for context. Jake Whyte lives an isolated life on a sheep farm on an unnamed British Island. Recently, something or someone has been mutilating and killing her sheep. There are two mysteries for the reader to solve. Firstly: what kind of animal or person could harm her flock in such a horrid way? Secondly: What drove Jake from her home and family in Australia and why does she choose to live in such seclusion?

These unanswered questions kept me hooked. The answers are slowly revealed in alternating chapters. One: in the present in England, then the next concerns her past in Australia. The way her past is exposed seems to confuse some people (according to Goodreads reviews) but it didn't take me very long to figure out that (and I don't think this is a spoiler – but if you are sensitive to this kind of thing skip the rest of the paragraph) her story is told in reverse. I really enjoyed this literary device because once you received an answer to one question the next raised its intriguing head. Great stuff!

Evie Wyld is a very gifted writer (clearly illustrated by the awards and nominations she has received for her work). She is probably a little too good in this novel actually: her descriptions on life in Australia makes it sound awful – a dry, dead country teeming with flies and dodgy men. (I live here tourists, believe me, it is not).

There are a few dark seedy bits, a touch of lust and some undesirable characters – all makes for a rather enjoyable read.

The story of Jakes current life as a sheep farmer on a British island is written as a mystery with the main question being; who (or what) is killing the sheep on her farm? But the story of Jakes past (told in a reverse chronological order) reveals the true mystery to be; What led Jake to leave Australia and live a solitary life on an island?

The book is well paced and I found myself reading page after page expecting to uncover more a mystery, but unfortunately what I found were two stories that didn't do enough to justify their connection. I did enjoy some of the writing, although a lot of the Australian scenes fell into some very heavy handed “ocker Australian” tropes.