The Albatross

by Nina Wan

'The albatross is just about the rarest thing in golf - two shots on a par 5. A hole-in-one, anywhere on the course, is just a random event, a fluke. It's not your own doing. But an albatross . . . It's a thing of beauty. One. Two. It must be very deliberate, very thoughtful, one superb shot followed by another. You can say it's got to take a degree of belief. You've got to really want it, and aim for it, and try for it.'

When Primrose makes an unplanned detour into a dilapidated suburban golf course called Whistles, she has no idea that the past will come rushing back at her, bringing every detail of her life into stark focus.

At 36, her marriage is teetering from illness and infidelity. A visit from her commanding brother-in-law looms ominously on the horizon. And by a twist of fate, Peter, the boy she loved twenty years ago, is now living across the street.

Primrose cannot escape the increasing demands to make a choice, between her first love and her marriage, duty and desire, fear and freedom. Slowly, the grounds of Whistles, and a sport she proves to be terrible at, become her meditation and cure.

From a sparkling new Australian voice, The Albatross is a big-hearted, beautifully written and utterly engaging novel about first love, second chances and the most elusive shot in golf.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Audiobook, Book Club, Australia, Literary Fiction, Mental Health

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2023

About the author

Nina Wan is a writer and former journalist at the Australian Financial Review. She lives in Melbourne.

Reviews

[John Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating, well written first novel by Nina Wan, an Australian writer who moved here from Shanghai as a young girl.

A story of a woman coming to an aging, soon to close 9 hole golf course one day for no particular reason. As a matter of fact, although Primrose is the narrator, we really don't know what she is thinking or wants. That is the entire point I guess, a 36 year old woman with a daughter and a not great marraige, who is not sure what she wants, so we wonder with her in suburban Melbourne, also not knowing. I really enjoyed the writing and the wandering, where nothing is certain, not the past, present or future.

"The older he gets, the more he seems to believe the world around him to be ridiculous. His friends, for instance. His wife, certainly. And, perhaps a little more with each day, his only child." Primrose's father, who ran a family cafe for many years.

A library ebook, four stars. Not to everyone's taste I'm sure, but I liked it.

[Sabina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high expectations of this book as it was recommended by Annabel Crabb but I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing much did. It was nicely written and had interesting observations on the main character’s life. I had to force myself to finish it. I will keep an eye on this author because I think with the right ideas and her interesting writing style. she could really shine.

[Theresa Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This debut contemporary fiction is one that I won’t hesitate to recommend. It was utterly brilliant, I enjoyed it so much. Fiercely intelligent and heartbreakingly realistic, I laughed, I cried, and then I cried some more.

Primrose stole my heart from the very beginning. This novel explores some heavy themes – mental illness, cancer, sexual assault, politics, toxic friendships, first love, parenting when you and your partner are not well, growing up as a migrant in Australia, race relations, issues of class – but it does so with a balanced hand, giving and taking so that the novel is never too heavy, never too much of anything, just perfectly right all the way through.

As to the golf, how unexpectedly delightful this aspect of the story turned out to be!

Five stars and a solid read this one immediately from me.

[Marjorie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the writing and the things the author makes you think about. There were lots of comments Primrose and Peter made that I could completely agree with, being a (part) Asian immigrant myself.

What destroyed the book for me was the fact that there was zero resolution. I honestly thought I had only finished part 1 or something when the audio stopped. I get that it leaves you with things to think about and figure out on your own, and that's the whole point, but I needed more! I thought for sure they would delve into Covid-19. The setup was perfect. But no.

Another thing I disliked was her unremorseful infidelity. Primrose didn't share any thoughts or feelings about all that. Intimacy would just suddenly happen and then she would move on to the next day. Cheating is kind of a big deal. Primrose was after all, shocked that Louise supposedly had an open marriage. And yet, she cheated without any guilt or justification.

[Jasmin Goldberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written but honestly a book I struggled to get through. It had big potential but unfortunately spread itself too thin in tackling the different themes of migrant identity, how our backgrounds affect other's perception of us (and whether that perception even matters), class, illness, OCD, infidelity, long love (however unconvincing) and when and why one should speak up on their beliefs. Trying to cover all this (plus golf) in a mere 200 or so pages was never going to happen and so sadly the book left me rather flat, having not delved into anything juicy nor having provided me with any characters or story lines to root for. Wouldn't bother with it honestly.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been thinking a lot about this book. I read an interview of the author (Kill Your Darlings website) where Wan says “There is a special energy that can be generated in a story when the author knows when to hold her tongue.” The writing is very spare and the reader is left to fill in many of the relationship dynamics, emotions and issues of morality. I haven’t thought about this as a style of writing before. The main character Primrose had been a journalist but became tired of having to have a provocative and valid opinion about everything. She was also tired of having to be actively or maybe defensively identifying as Asian which I also thought was very interesting. In golf, a hole in one is achieved by a single freaky, amazing shot. An albatross needs two of these in a row which makes it incredibly rare and unlikely. The story weaves around this concept but we are left to fill in the gaps. There were many beautiful and succinct passages of writing that I really enjoyed reading in this thought provoking book.

[Isobel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know if I’m not intelligent enough for this book, or if it’s not meant to be viewed through an intelligent lens but this was a struggle for me. “Nothing” happens for 50% of the book and then the author starts throwing out stuff every two pages until the end. I would have liked to sit in those moments a lot longer than the ones we are planted in at the start. Potentially on reread id like this more? I don’t know. I don’t see me returning

[Penny O'shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved many aspects of this book - some really interesting and diverse characters (you almost feel like you could have multiple spin-off books based on characters such as Harriet, Jonathan or many other of the minor characters), great writing (“By now the rain is starting to come down again, but only in disorganised patters like crumbs from a biscuit.”), and an interesting plot line (although not much ‘happens’, I was still thoroughly engaged in how it would be resolved).

In terms of resolution, I have seen other reviewers bemoan the ending but I can’t agree that it is left up in the air. One of the interesting aspects of the book for me is trying to get a handle on Primrose, the main character, which is not easy to do. As we jump from the present to the past, we gain snippets of insight but it isn’t until towards the end of the book that we can truly get an inkling of what has shaped Primrose and how her personality, circumstances, race, gender, class, family, childhood and teenage experiences have brought her to where she is.

I loved the golf aspects and the concept of the albatross - two perfect shots, one after the other, and how rare and seemingly unattainable that is.

A great, easy read that got me thinking - what’s not to love about that?

[Jess Gibbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had the same quality I loved in Remains of the Day - slow moving, perhaps, and plot-light, but tied together so beautifully in the last few pages that it was all worth it.

Primrose is going to stay with me. Without spoiling, I've read that many people felt like it hadn't ended, or was left open ended, but I didn't feel that way at all - I feel like we knew exactly what is going to happen, but these events must happen off page.

[Carmel · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. A page turner ( after the first 50 or so pages) and easy read but ultimately I was disappointed with this book. To me it seemed disjointed and unfinished and I was unable to work out whether there was a point trying to be made by the author. The link to various characters was Primrose - whom I really didn’t warm too. She was surrounded by people she really didn’t like ( who does that?) and complained about them all but she used each of them for something and didn’t appear to feel any shame for the asking for money, using connections to get jobs and being repeatedly unfaithful - all with little consequence. I don’t know what the ending resolved or are we waiting for another installment? I think I missed what this one was about.

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hated a certain plot explaining element of this story. Still don’t know much more about golf but I would pay to stay on a cliff edge and smack balls off it as therapy.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected great things from this book, but while well written, there were lots of questions and no answers. It was slow to start, then picked up speed and drove off a cliff. Not Thelma and Louise style though, just like “oh no, there’s a cliff!”. I imagine it was much longer and editors made the author cut a lot out at the end. If that’s true, it’s a shame.

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that traverses generations and considers the many things that life can throw at you. Through the disarming and complex Primrose it explores family, illness, multiculturalism, our modern financialised society, love, longing, and the gravitational forces of life we cannot resist, framed beautifully by the promise and potential of a golfing Albatross.
We don’t get to see all the characters in detail, but it’s enough and we are left to guess at the compromises in their own lives as they have collided with Primrose. The scenery is beautiful and vivid, you can almost taste the salt air at Whistles. It is a page turner that gathers speed, and leaves you to turn inwards to find strength and hope to pick up a club and find your own path down the fairway of life.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

The albatross is just about the rarest thing in golf - two shots on a par 5. A hole-in-one, anywhere on the course, is just a random event, a fluke. It's not your own doing. But an albatross . . . It's a thing of beauty.

When Primrose makes an unplanned detour into a dilapidated suburban golf course called Whistles, she has no idea that the past will come rushing back at her, bringing every detail of her life into stark focus.

She is questioning everything. While her marriage feels like it's breaking down, there's infidelity, and not to mention a visit from her commanding brother-in-law looms ominously on the horizon. She can't escape all of the demands on her at the moment, so maybe trying something just for herself might be the answer.

This is a fantastic read. Nina Wan explores the mundaneness of marriage - of feeling stuck and like things are not working, while also throwing in some other complications. I love how she explores the desire to find yourself again by taking Primrose to the golf course. And while, typically, golf is not a sport I would say I have any interest in, I was hooked from the first chapter.

This is a must to pre-order!

[Pippa Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liking this book was completely unexpected, the first scene and much of the setting on a golf course.
It kept me guessing, such real human characters. In fact some the minor characters were just as joyful to read as those in the book. Harriet and Jonathan stand out characters who made me smile, and also the abhorrent Terence - shocking.

All the characters including the lead Primrose had a real life and relatability. I loved how an introverted character was brought to life, the frustrations of how characters perceived her just gave her even more depth.

This book is one full of ideas, of illness, marriage and sexual connection, class and race relations and it is told with such brilliant poignant writing. Incredibly ambitious and yet reads effortlessly.

The book was full of wit, sorrow - I found myself smiling, laughing and crying - and I loved that the writer gave space for the reader to interpret the ending and in fact throughout the own book their is space to think on all ideas.

Wow! It’s one of those books were I left feeling in awe of the author- and while fiction had me wanting to know all about her.

[Leoni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Things I liked about this book:
- the green cover
- learning about the beauty of the (golf) albatross
- Marin the artiste
- Whistles and the painting

Things I didn’t like:
- Primrose
- TERRENCE 🤮
- the tired, revolting, basic trope of the fat person being jolly and uncomplicated and the EXCESSIVE descriptions of their physicality. NOONE else was described physically (apart from the dad in the end).
- the storyline wtf
- the ending WTF

It was easy to read and I wanted to keep reading it so that’s a plus.

[Meghan Coomber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn’t connect to any of the characters, and so many issues, spread way too thin.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel suffers from a bad case of awkward or banal similes, which thorough editing could have weeded out…

… like some archaeological curse
… like something out of a Vegas show
… like something you read to your children at bedtime
… like the train of a wedding dress being carried into church
… like something displayed in a dessert cabinet
… like an afterthought of a dream that lingers in the morning
… like sound effects from a horror movie
… like some beggar picking up the change
… like a poorly played game of Tetris
… like someone risen from the grave
… like ears with too many lobes ???????
… like…
… LIKE…

And my personal favourite: “that the first year here would be like being a deaf mute, running around guessing at what people meant and in what way they meant it and if they were even talking to you.” Surely there’s a better way to express that feeling, but what do I know…

“Writing was a breeze compared to reading; my teachers always said I wrote very well.”

Not this novel though! I know The Albatross is a debut but, to me, that’s literary laziness, which is surprising because I would imagine there’d been a spark that made the author want to write this particular story and not a different one. Even the plot—the swerve of it all, not to mention the ending—is as half-arsed as these similes.

I didn’t hate The Albatross, but it didn’t put Nina Wan on my list of authors to watch out for.

[Bec Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for a book club that I continue to fail to attend… which I mention because I hadn’t read any reviews at all so had no expectations.
All the apparently random golf at the start initially put me off. Was it a sports novel? Was she going to go for an albatross herself? If so, what was the distraction of the failing public golf course about?
So it nearly lost me early on, plus I get very annoyed with plot that’s driven by characters refusing to say what they’re thinking or share normal backstory with the people closest to them. In this case that is stretched to a ridiculous extreme where central characters can know each other for years without knowing that some of them have been at school together. That’s not a spoiler, just implausible and annoying. Especially given the location and demographic - literally impossible for people like that not to have asked each other where and when they went to school (cue eye roll).
Then the story turns into something more like The Slap for a few chapters, which was sort of interesting for a bit. Finally, the plot reveals started coming, which got me in properly, but almost ‘too much, too late’ as there are some real thumpers in that last third of the book that might have been better doled out more interestingly from a bit earlier.
By the finish, I was glad to have read it and not the slightest bit surprised at how heavily autobiographical it seems to be when I got to the author notes at the end. You can also tell that Nina is a print journalist because she can really write - so a lot of the flaws are more easily forgiven!

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly enjoyed this book but was left feeling unsatisfied and unclear about the point of it all. Especially the title. Interesting characters with some interesting perspectives but felt a bit like an incomplete pencil sketch rather than a fully realised novel.

[Madigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written really well and I loved the style of the writing. However, it didn’t have a point and I didn’t really love that. I think I would have preferred some sort of climax. I got to the end and thought “oh ok is that it?”

[Sarah Judd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one! Easy read, easy to get into and fun story.

[lyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

beautiful writing and morally grey characters! plot was a bit underwhelming, but ultimately was an interesting read 🩷

[Ellah Haberle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who would have thought I would enjoy a book about golf

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the writing style but a search party is still looking for the plot.

[Gabrielle Geddes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another lit fic that completely went over my head. I honestly just can't handle stories about nothing.
There were a few moments of beautiful writing and meaningful character progression, but these were few and far between.
Not a bad book by any means, just not for me. I yearn for plot.

[Georgie Hewson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow start but then got really into it at the end. The questions I had all through the book got answered I’m the last three chapters so I have a bit of whiplash.

[Courtney]

DNF @ 29%

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

An albatross is an extraordinary event that almost never happens on the golf course. It’s a term reserved for when a golfer scores two shots on a par 5 — something so rare that it’s only ever been achieved a handful of times in golfing history. Absolutely everything hinges on that second shot.

Primrose isn’t entirely sure what compels her to continue visiting her local golf course, Whistles — she’s not a golfer in a strict sense — but for some inexplicable reason, it’s swampy, shabby state gives her some reprieve from an otherwise stark existence. A deliberately impassive spectator in life, it takes some intuiting from the reader to understand her inner world. Why her compulsion to clean? And why her quiet insistence on always remaining impartial?

Be warned though, there’s not a lot of plot. THE ALBATROSS is very much a novel that patiently unearths every nuance in character through the mundanity of the everyday. There are personal tragedies — influenced by social power structures that define class and race — that have shaped Primrose’s detached persona. Having read, in quick succession, books that heavily pivot around these themes recently, I quite preferred the nonchalant approach in THE ALBATROSS over the usual impassioned, didactic fare.

Primrose is an unconventional character and her indifference can be perplexing to begin with, but I found myself very much drawn to her subtleties. Nina Wan’s prose reminded me somewhat of Nina Mingya Powles (SMALL BODIES OF WATER) and Laura McPhee-Browne’s (LITTLE PLUM) work; it’s crafted with a similar restrained elegance and intellect.

I’ve been very impressed with our #asianaustralian debut offerings lately and this one is no exception.

Find more of my reviews on Instagram: @tackling.my.tbr

[Samantha Pini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to enjoy this book. However, I found it predictable and ordinary.