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A review by thelibraryofklee
The Axeman's Carnival by Catherine Chidgey
5.0
"A long long time ago, when I was little chick, not even a chick but a pink and naked thing, a scar a scrap a scrape fallen on roots, and wriggling, when I was catching my death and all I knew of sky was the feel of feathers above me, the belly of black as warm as a cloud above me, when I was blind, my eyes unsprouted seeds, my eyes dots of gravel stuck under skin, when I was a beak opening for nothing nothing nothing she lifted me into her pillowed palm."
Set in Central Otago, we meet Rob and Marnie, struggling sheep farmers. Tama(gotchi), a fledgling magpie, is saved my Marnie, and choses to stay with his new mum. Part trickster, part surrogate child, part witness, Tama the magpie is the star of this story, as he learns to speak the language of the "colonisers" he opens doors for Marnie and Rob on social media. Tama, with the naïve eye of a child, relays how he views the world around him. There is a lot of frivolity and hilarity, but at the heart of this, is the story of domestic violence. I have seen a number of reviewers say this was fun. Honestly, I think I cried for the first 100 pages, and I had to put the book down for a week. There is certainly fun to be had and there is a slapstick bird napping that has me rolling me eyes, but overall, I found this narrative mostly heart wrenching, and all I could think about was whether Tama would see it to the end of the book.
A cleverly written book by a New Zealand author, this is one to support, but be aware of the DV trigger.
Set in Central Otago, we meet Rob and Marnie, struggling sheep farmers. Tama(gotchi), a fledgling magpie, is saved my Marnie, and choses to stay with his new mum. Part trickster, part surrogate child, part witness, Tama the magpie is the star of this story, as he learns to speak the language of the "colonisers" he opens doors for Marnie and Rob on social media. Tama, with the naïve eye of a child, relays how he views the world around him. There is a lot of frivolity and hilarity, but at the heart of this, is the story of domestic violence. I have seen a number of reviewers say this was fun. Honestly, I think I cried for the first 100 pages, and I had to put the book down for a week. There is certainly fun to be had and there is a slapstick bird napping that has me rolling me eyes, but overall, I found this narrative mostly heart wrenching, and all I could think about was whether Tama would see it to the end of the book.
A cleverly written book by a New Zealand author, this is one to support, but be aware of the DV trigger.