Women & Children (Tony Birch, UQP)

Tony Birch’s latest novel, Women & Children, is a thoughtful and profound story of a working-class family doing their best to resist a system that’s geared against them. In 1965 Australian suburbia, Joe Cluny spends his school days being scolded by nuns at his Catholic primary school. He’s a sweet and kind boy who means well but seems to be in constant trouble because of his curious and questioning nature. His older sister, Ruby, is top of her class and doted on, but her attitude towards school is more out of self-preservation than piousness. They’re lucky to have a supportive and loving mother, Marion, but she’s busy holding down the fort as a single parent, and the only person with time for Joe is his grandfather, Charlie—a kindred spirit. One day, their Aunty Oona arrives unannounced on their doorstep, hurt and distressed, and Joe realises the world can be an unkind place, particularly for women and for people who are different. Women & Children is a beautifully written novel, both in terms of Birch’s tender writing style and compelling storytelling. Birch focuses on the experience of women in 1960s Australia and how those experiences trickle down to affect their children. He does an excellent job of painting a harrowing picture of his characters’ experiences (of domestic violence, misplaced faith in religious leaders, the isolation of divorce), while managing to simultaneously give them strength and autonomy over their lives—we see them leaving dangerous relationships, pulling kids out of school, and witness (to use Birch’s own words) their ‘refusal to accept silence as an option’. This is a powerful novel that explores class, domestic violence, punishment and Australia’s dark past. It’s for fans of Helen Garner’s laying bare of everyday Australia, Tim Winton’s stories and Douglas Stuart’s ability to see the world through a child’s eyes.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Danielle Bagnato is a book reviewer and marketing and communications professional. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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