The Clinking has been described as an ‘ecological love story’ and while it is a love story between two people, on the ecological level it depicts the catastrophic outcome of man’s lack of love for the natural world. In the dystopian world of the novel the all too foreseeable consequences of global warming are now a reality.
Set in Tasmania, the environment as we know it is irreversibly spoiled, rising sea levels have already destroyed habitats, both human and animal, food and water supplies are becoming exhausted, extreme weather events such as cataclysmic storms, floods and fires have wiped out huge areas across the world and climate-influenced extinctions of species are becoming a daily occurrence.
Tom is an ecologist specialising in the effects of natural disasters on flora and fauna and is distraught at the irreversible losses he’s witnessing and the erosion of the future they represent. He is rapidly losing hope that his work can make any difference. His wife, Elena, a journalist, is alarmed that he seems to be alienating himself from her and their young daughter, Orla, and she is helpless to mitigate his grief. Her fears appear confirmed when one day he abruptly disappears from their lives. From that point the story charts Elena’s journey with Orla and Tom’s best friend across the country in search of her missing husband.
Each chapter is introduced by a short passage exploring different scenarios of living organisms and their environment, variously endangered by climate change.
Greenhill, herself a Tasmanian, writes with a deep understanding of the fragile ecology of Tasmania. My only reservation is the book’s title which, while it ties in with an ominous sound mentioned several times, strikes me as jarring and clunky. However, her prose is lyrical and moving to the extent the reader becomes invested in the fate of not only this one small family, but the escalating crisis that consumes a world all too frighteningly hovering on the brink of reality.
Reviewed by Anne Green
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susie Greenhill lives on the mouth of the Huon River in southern Tasmania. Her short stories have been published in journals and anthologies in Australia and overseas.
In 2016 Susie won the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers. She has a PhD in Writing from Edith Cowan University and was awarded the University’s 2016 Postgraduate Research Medal. The Clinking is Susie’s debut novel.
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