On occasion it happens that a book really sinks into your psyche and you find yourself thinking about it days after closing the last page. The Rain Heron is such a book. Part fable, part epic journey narrative, the writing is exquisite. The story opens with the tale of a mythical bird, the Rain Heron, who brought prosperity and wealth to a farmer who had previously struggled to survive farming her land. As with so many ancient allegories the jealousy of a rival caused devastation and the land was once more barren.

The story proper begins when we meet Ren, a woman living alone in a cave in the mountains, having escaped from a coup that has ravaged her country and estranged her from her family. Ren survives by hunting, fishing and foraging. She barters her animal skins and smoked fish for medicines, vegetable seeds and other small essentials with Barlow, a man from the nearby village who does what he can to help her stay alive. One morning Barlow warns Ren that there are soldiers on the mountain and they are looking for her. Their mission is to retrieve the mythical Rain Heron who, it is rumoured lives on the mountain and their leader is certain that Ren knows how to find it.

This is a story for our times as the characters wrestle with conflicting emotions of love, loyalty, guilt and betrayal before ultimately finding redemption. All set in an unnamed country whose dramatically realised landscape ranging from the lushness of the rainforest to the harsh bare plains takes on a persona of its own.

Highly recommended for book clubs as reading it, I immediately wanted to share the experience.

Reviewed by Maryanne Vagg