A tantalising amalgamation of love, drama, place, and history, The Islands is equipped for every book club in Australia.
Alva and Onni Saari have made Little Rat, a tiny island off the coast of Geraldton, Western Australia, their new home. It is the 1950s, and the family of Finnish migrants have moved to Australia searching for a better life. With a stint in the Australian outback first, trying their hands at prospecting, Onni is drawn to Little Rat after the tragic drowning of his brother Nalle. There, Onni takes up his brother’s crayfishing licence and is taken with the beautiful landscape. Though years pass, all is not perfect in this sometimes harsh and unforgiving place. The family decide to leave Western Australia to embark on yet another journey across the Nullarbor to the eastern coast of Australia. Will this be their new home? Or will they one day return to Little Rat?
The characters are candid, faithful, and insightful. The setting is rich, enlightening and, at times, spiritual. The plot, simply engrossing. The Islands provides an historic insight into a mid-century migrant family’s lives on a journey to find a place to call home. The hero of the novel is the setting. Little Rat comes to life and the coastal locations ring true. The setting does not put a single foot wrong, and you are swept up with the crashing waves and onshore winds, and those who live under its spell.
The Islands will leave you awash with a salty ocean mist of profound thought about life’s journey, and the true meaning of the word ‘home’.
Reviewed by Samuel Bernard
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I grew up in Broulee, on the far south coast of NSW, on the lands of the Yuin people. I currently live in Mullumbimby, in Bundjalung country. The Islands is my first novel.
0 Comments