A review by serendipitysbooks
The Swan Book by Alexis Wright

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

3.5

 The Swan Book is set in a futuristic Australia beset by climate change. At its heart is Oblivia, a young Aboriginal girl abandoned by her family, sexually assaulted then rescued by Bella Donna who tells her many tales featuring swans. After Bella dies Oblivia is taken by a man who became Australia’s first Aboriginal president and forced to marry him. A visit by swans gives her the strength to escape. I didn’t feel clever enough for this book and wish I’d had a literature professor by my side. It had a lot to say about race relations in Australia (that fence separating Aborigines from other Australians) and climate change. I found the use of swan mythology and metaphor especially fascinating. The writing was impressive, switching effortlessly from poetic to prosaic.
 
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