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Inga Simpson’s second novel is set in the lush subtropical hinterland of Australia’s east coast. Jen, a reclusive artist, goes back to where she grew up and where her father was a timber-cutter, to find peace among the birds and trees. But mysteries and disappearances trouble her idyllic life.
Like her artist protagonist, Simpson has acute powers of observation and an ability to capture nature on the page. The vivid colours of rainforest birds and the intricate growth of forests, set to a soundtrack of birdsong, lulls the reader. However, the nesting theme threads together a narrative more fragile than compelling.
- Book 1 Title: Nest
- Book 1 Biblio: Hachette Australia $27.99 pb, 256 pp
The third-person narrative, and her reclusive nature, keeps Jen too much at a distance. She comes most clearly into focus in dialogue with her young pupil Henry, an appealing character who adds a new dimension to the storyline of lost children. And a flashback to a succinct conversation with her ex-partner gives us all we need to understand why Jen is living alone.
In spite of its structural anomalies, Nest is a gently persuasive novel that leaves you richer for having seen with the eyes of a naturalist, entering an environment where the life force is palpable, up in the ecosystem within a tree’s crown, or plunging naked into long-awaited rains.
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