The Clinking
A powerful ecological love story about grief and hope in a warming world
Susie Greenhill
- From
- Richell
- Prize-winning
- debut
- author
- Susie
- Greenhill
- comes
- a
- tender
- and
- profoundly
- moving
- exploration
- of
- life
- and
- loss.In
- the
- early
- morning,
- Elena
- woke
- as
- Orla
- pulled
- back
- the
- doona
- and
- climbed
- into
- their
- bed.
- She
- unfolded
- Elena's
- fingers
- and
- pressed
- a
- tiny
- model
- penguin
- into
- her
- hand.
- Still
- half
- asleep,
- Elena
- rolled
- over.
- Outside
- the
- window,
- black
- cockatoos
- were
- dropping
- wattle
- galls
- onto
- the
- street.
- The
- room
- was
- silent,
- the
- dawn
- light
- dull
- and
- grey.
- And
- Tom
- was
- gone
- .
- .
- .In
- the
- not-too-distant
- future
- on
- the
- island
- of
- lutruwita,
- where
- the
- seas
- glow
- blue
- with
- bioluminescence
- and
- ancient
- forests
- wither
- in
- the
- heat,
- a
- young
- family
- are
- caught
- in
- the
- eye
- of
- a
- storm.As
- an
- ecologist
- working
- on
- extinctions,
- Tom
- knows
- the
- world
- he
- loves
- is
- unravelling
- around
- him.
- He
- cares
- deeply
- for
- his
- wife
- Elena,
- a
- journalist,
- and
- their
- daughter
- Orla,
- but
- he
- is
- haunted
- by
- disappearing
- species
- and
- the
- news
- of
- bushfires,
- floods
- and
- famine.
- In
- his
- mind,
- the
- damage
- done
- to
- the
- Earth
- has
- tipped
- into
- the
- irreversible.
- Elena
- can
- only
- watch
- helplessly
- as
- Tom's
- grief
- consumes
- him.
- And
- then,
- one
- day,
- Tom
- vanishes.Alone,
- Elena
- asks
- herself,
- 'How
- can
- I
- be
- a
- mother
- to
- my
- child
- in
- this
- world?'
- In
- the
- remote
- south-west
- wilderness,
- she
- sets
- out
- to
- find
- answers
- and
- the
- hope
- she
- needs
- for
- herself
- and
- her
- daughter.
- But
- is
- there
- hope
- left
- to
- find?'A
- tragic
- love
- song
- for
- the
- natural
- world.
- A
- poignant
- and
- compelling
- search
- for
- hope
- in
- everything
- we're
- losing,
- everything
- we've
- lost.'
- BEN
- WALTER'Greenhill's
- writing
- is
- unlike
- any
- I
- have
- encountered
- in
- its
- luminous
- effectiveness.'
- LOUISE
- WESTLING'Powerful
- and
- inventive'
- THE
- AUSTRALIAN'Lyrical
- and
- moving'
- GOOD
- READING
- MAGAZINE'Exquisite
- .
- .
- .
- A
- lesson
- in
- how
- to
- look
- with
- clear
- eyes
- at
- the
- historical
- moment
- we're
- living
- through
- -
- and
- at
- the
- destination
- to
- which
- we're
- headed'
- THE MERCURY
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