Book Review: All Our Shimmering Skies

The Book: All Our Shimmering Skies

The Author: Trent Dalton

Rating: 4/5

I'm conflicted by this book.

Trent Dalton is a polarising figure - either you love him or hate him. My mother does not like him at all. I rather like this very Australian, slightly bogan, quite literary author. He gets to the guts of the matter. He can be very funny and sweet. He can also see the dark side of Australian life. One of my book group refuses to read him, saying that he got his book contract because he was an ex-Australian journo - I thing this is a bit silly. Trent Dalton is a very good writer. 

Our book group book has his latest work, All Our Shimmering Skies, - and to be honest, I'm not sure what I'm going to say about this tonight at book group. I have a feeling, people are going to either love it or hate it, just like his first book, Boy Swallows Universe. (Which, by the way, I loved - and Jonella thought it was the bests book she'd ever read). 

All Our Shimmering Skies is not Boy Swallows Universe. 

It's something more. 

The Guardian gives a good overview. "Molly Hook, the gravedigger’s daughter, has a heart on the verge of turning to stone. When her mother dies she is left to fend for herself against her apathetic father and his abusive, grave-robbing brother, Aubrey. Driven by hope, and a belief in the magical gifts of the night sky, Molly sets out on a quest for answers, gold and a cure to the curse that has plagued her family for decades."

Set in Darwin in February, 1942, Molly Hook lives a desperate life. Living with her morose father and abusive Uncle, she tries to get on as well as she can. Her mother has passed, she has few friends and comforts. The family appears to be cursed by an aboriginal man named Longcoat Bob, who scourged the family after her grandfather stole from the tribe. During the Battle of Darwin, Molly escapes to try to find Longcoat Bob, using directions on her grandfather's gold pan. 

Sounds a bit farfetched? It is. This is where the magic realism comes in to help the novel on the way. 

Molly is assisted by two unikely friends. Greta Maze, an actress, and long suffering girlfriend of Molly's uncle. And Yukio Miki, a Japanese pilot who's parachuted from the sky. The unlikely trio make their way through the bush on this strange Odyssey, meeting even stranger characters and getting themselves into more and more strife as they go along. Some of the most lovely parts of the books have Molly interacting with Yukio in broken English and Japanese. 

What takes time to come to terms with is the books dream time/otherworldly view of the world. Once you get a handle on the fact the book is magic realism at it's best, the book becomes easier to read, just as some of the happenings in the novel become easier  - such as the discovery of the leper run tin mine. 

But what Dalton does really well is describe the Top End in all it's glory. His settings and scenery are some of the best I've read. 

Also, his characters are brilliantly drawn, filled with humour, pathos and humanity, both good and bad. It's Dalton's ability to see people as they are and write about them with such vigour which I loved about the book. Occasionally, he's very funny, other times, the horror of Molly's situation is elucidated just enough for the reader to know what is actually happening without being too prescriptive. 

Like Steve Toltz's, A Fraction of the Whole, which this book reminds me of, there is a lot to unpack on this novel. It has a huge heart. The setting is incredible, from the Colonial, almost Wild West feel of 1940s Darwin, to the land around the top end which feels a lot like Kakadu and Litchfield. 

There are also some fabulous lessons in the book - "Own all you carry, carry all you own" comes up regularly. 

The book has been meticulously researched as well - you get a feel for this through the life-like and dream-like quality of the setting. 

Is this book for everybody? Absolutely not. But in writing this, I think there's a lot more to unpack that I first thought.  It's not a perfect book, but I really want to see where Trent Dalton takes us next. 

Today's Song: