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The Untold
With shades of Water for Elephants and True Grit, a stunning debut novel set in the Australian outback about a female horse thief, her bid for freedom, and the two men trying to capture her.
It is 1921. In a mountain-locked valley, Jessie is on the run.
Born wild and brave, by twenty-six she has already lived life as a circus rider, horse and cattle rustler, and convict. But on this fateful night she is just a woman wanting to survive though there is barely any life left in her.
Two men crash through the bushland, desperate to claim the reward on her head: one her lover, the other the law.
But as it has always been for Jessie, it is death, not a man, who is her closest pursuer and companion. And while all odds are stacked against her, there is one who will never give up on her—her own child, who awaits her.
It is 1921. In a mountain-locked valley, Jessie is on the run.
Born wild and brave, by twenty-six she has already lived life as a circus rider, horse and cattle rustler, and convict. But on this fateful night she is just a woman wanting to survive though there is barely any life left in her.
Two men crash through the bushland, desperate to claim the reward on her head: one her lover, the other the law.
But as it has always been for Jessie, it is death, not a man, who is her closest pursuer and companion. And while all odds are stacked against her, there is one who will never give up on her—her own child, who awaits her.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 307 reviews
June 22, 2014
It is 1921 and in the Australian bush, Jessie is a wanted woman in the disappearance of her husband. She has committed crimes under other names, cattle stealing, and armed theft among them. She has served time and she is now only 26 years old and now on the run. This part of the story is all true, and the author takes it from here.
She tells her story in a very unusual and risky way. It requires the reader to buy into the thought that Jessie's dead and buried child is our narrator. The story starts off with a shocking event and from there follows the child's voice as he narrates his Mother's past and present. I thought this was very well done, it was an unusual way to tell a story, but it worked for me.
There are two other important characters and we learn their stories as well. A black horse wrangler and tracker and a heroine addicted lawman. The story set against the unforgiving Australian outback is filled with suspense as Jessie tries to keep ahead of the men searching for her. Something that surprised me happens towards the end of the book, and it was amazing how tightly structured I found this novel. Everything fits in perfectly and comes full circle.
I enjoyed this unorthodox Western, loved that it was written about an actual person that the author had heard about throughout her youth. Of such legends many good stories are made.
She tells her story in a very unusual and risky way. It requires the reader to buy into the thought that Jessie's dead and buried child is our narrator. The story starts off with a shocking event and from there follows the child's voice as he narrates his Mother's past and present. I thought this was very well done, it was an unusual way to tell a story, but it worked for me.
There are two other important characters and we learn their stories as well. A black horse wrangler and tracker and a heroine addicted lawman. The story set against the unforgiving Australian outback is filled with suspense as Jessie tries to keep ahead of the men searching for her. Something that surprised me happens towards the end of the book, and it was amazing how tightly structured I found this novel. Everything fits in perfectly and comes full circle.
I enjoyed this unorthodox Western, loved that it was written about an actual person that the author had heard about throughout her youth. Of such legends many good stories are made.
July 5, 2023
This historical fiction by Australian author Courtney Collins, originally published with the title The Buried, was inspired by the life of Jessie Hickman, a female bushranger born in 1890, who went bush in the 1920s after killing her husband. It is an Australian Western but written in an interesting style that could be called Australian Noir.
Jessie is assigned to work for Fitz after she finishes a jail term for horse rustling. Her new freedom soon becomes its own kind of hell and she is eventually forced to take drastic action to escape to the mountains. She is pursued by Aboriginal tracker Jack Brown and the heroin-addicted Sergeant Barlow and then a host of bloodthirsty bounty hunters.
I found myself caught up with the action and willing Jessie to survive. The writing was vivid but lyrical and almost surreal. It felt a little like watching a Baz Luhrmann movie. Initially I felt very uncomfortable with the dead baby narrator but I became accustomed to it. I would be interested to read another Courtney Collins book.
Jessie is assigned to work for Fitz after she finishes a jail term for horse rustling. Her new freedom soon becomes its own kind of hell and she is eventually forced to take drastic action to escape to the mountains. She is pursued by Aboriginal tracker Jack Brown and the heroin-addicted Sergeant Barlow and then a host of bloodthirsty bounty hunters.
I found myself caught up with the action and willing Jessie to survive. The writing was vivid but lyrical and almost surreal. It felt a little like watching a Baz Luhrmann movie. Initially I felt very uncomfortable with the dead baby narrator but I became accustomed to it. I would be interested to read another Courtney Collins book.
December 9, 2018
3,5. He acabado Un mal día para nacer con muy buen sabor de boca. Es de esos libros que se lee muy rápido, tanto por la prosa, como por la historia o incluso por la forma de contarla. La historia nos presentará a Jessie, una ladrona de caballos que después de pasar unos años en la cárcel, tendrá la oportunidad de salir de ella realizando un trabajo para el señor Fitz, dueño de una finca en mitad del bosque. Fitz resultará ser un hombre despreciable.
Y no digo más, que es cortito. Pero me ha evocado situaciones muy agradables. Todo el tiempo tenía en mente imágenes de los cowboys de las típicos westerns. Solo que en esta ocación teníamos a una mujer,realmente fuerte, como protagonista.
Ha sido un viaje muy agradable. Me ha encantado conocer a Jessie. ¿La única pega? Que me he quedado con ganas de más. Ojalá hagan una adaptación cinematográfica.
Y no digo más, que es cortito. Pero me ha evocado situaciones muy agradables. Todo el tiempo tenía en mente imágenes de los cowboys de las típicos westerns. Solo que en esta ocación teníamos a una mujer,realmente fuerte, como protagonista.
Ha sido un viaje muy agradable. Me ha encantado conocer a Jessie. ¿La única pega? Que me he quedado con ganas de más. Ojalá hagan una adaptación cinematográfica.
May 8, 2013
‘If the dirt could speak, whose story would it tell?’
This novel was inspired by the life of Elizabeth Jessie Hickman, a female bushranger born in 1890, who went bush in the 1920s after killing her third husband. This is Courtney Collins’s debut novel and re-imagines aspects of Jessie Hickman’s life. The narrator is Jessie Hickman’s buried child: “I should not have seen the sky turn pink or the day seep in. I should not have seen my mother’s pale arms sweep up and heap wet earth upon me or the white birds fan out over my head. But I did.”
The buried child tracks her mother’s movement, with her horse Houdini, across the land. Jessie has been accused of murder, theft and witchcraft by her neighbours and has a sizeable bounty on her head, enough to attract a number of men keen to claim it. She is also being sought by Sergeant Barlow, and Aboriginal drover and tracker Jack Brown. Jack Brown was her lover, while Sergeant Barlow has his own reasons for wanting to capture her.
‘This must be the longing of the dirt for the ones who are suspended in flight.’
Themes of death and deprivation are played against the backdrop of a generally harsh Australian bush landscape. The past and present are intertwined in this story: Jessie’s memories of her beloved father Septimus, and of her life as a circus performer contrast with her present in which survival seems unlikely. Jessie has survived by being tough, but her toughness covers a gentler, softer self which longs for an innocent acceptance of self: a form of peace. Which she does find, briefly, with a band of boys in the mountains. Together, Jessie and the boys manage to steal 100 cattle and sell them at saleyards before the owner notices they are missing. It’s a fleeting, pyrrhic victory.
‘This is all I know: death is a magic hall of mirrors and within it there is a door and the door opens both ways.’
I found this novel utterly engrossing. While I was initially very uncomfortable with the narrative device, the further I read the more comfortable I became. The image I formed – of a wise old soul – may not be the image the author intended, but it enabled me to embrace Jessie’s story. To see beyond the harshness, to appreciate resilience and to hope for some form of redemption.
This debut novel was shortlisted for the Stella Prize 2013.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This novel was inspired by the life of Elizabeth Jessie Hickman, a female bushranger born in 1890, who went bush in the 1920s after killing her third husband. This is Courtney Collins’s debut novel and re-imagines aspects of Jessie Hickman’s life. The narrator is Jessie Hickman’s buried child: “I should not have seen the sky turn pink or the day seep in. I should not have seen my mother’s pale arms sweep up and heap wet earth upon me or the white birds fan out over my head. But I did.”
The buried child tracks her mother’s movement, with her horse Houdini, across the land. Jessie has been accused of murder, theft and witchcraft by her neighbours and has a sizeable bounty on her head, enough to attract a number of men keen to claim it. She is also being sought by Sergeant Barlow, and Aboriginal drover and tracker Jack Brown. Jack Brown was her lover, while Sergeant Barlow has his own reasons for wanting to capture her.
‘This must be the longing of the dirt for the ones who are suspended in flight.’
Themes of death and deprivation are played against the backdrop of a generally harsh Australian bush landscape. The past and present are intertwined in this story: Jessie’s memories of her beloved father Septimus, and of her life as a circus performer contrast with her present in which survival seems unlikely. Jessie has survived by being tough, but her toughness covers a gentler, softer self which longs for an innocent acceptance of self: a form of peace. Which she does find, briefly, with a band of boys in the mountains. Together, Jessie and the boys manage to steal 100 cattle and sell them at saleyards before the owner notices they are missing. It’s a fleeting, pyrrhic victory.
‘This is all I know: death is a magic hall of mirrors and within it there is a door and the door opens both ways.’
I found this novel utterly engrossing. While I was initially very uncomfortable with the narrative device, the further I read the more comfortable I became. The image I formed – of a wise old soul – may not be the image the author intended, but it enabled me to embrace Jessie’s story. To see beyond the harshness, to appreciate resilience and to hope for some form of redemption.
This debut novel was shortlisted for the Stella Prize 2013.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
June 5, 2014
When twenty-two-year-old Jessie was released from prison after serving two years for horse rustling, she immediately began working for Fitzgerald Henry (Fitz) on his property in the vast bush of NSW Australia. This was a condition of her release; she had no say in it at all. Fitz was a cruel and harsh man, and his treatment of Jessie was such that she was desperate to escape her tormenter. When Aboriginal stockman Jack Brown was also hired by Fitz, the two became kindred spirits. Thrust together in the stealing of horses for Fitz, they both wanted to get away from his demanding, threatening and drunken influence.
But when Jessie discovered she was pregnant to Fitz, she was terrified - her future looked bleak. And after a frightening night of horror and fear, Jessie frantically headed away from the farm on her beloved horse, Houdini, as fast as she could possibly go. She had done a terrible thing, but she wanted to be free – she must be free; no-one must find her….not even Jack Brown.
With the premature birth and subsequent death of her baby, Jessie found herself extremely ill. Delirious, suffering from blood loss and severe dehydration, her thoughts tormented her.
As Jessie’s story continued, it was narrated by the spirit of her dead baby. The link between mother and child was strong – as Jessie struggled, her extreme courage shone through. With depth of character, humility and determination, Jessie kept going, trying to stay one step ahead of her pursuers as she headed for the mountains which were beckoning her.
Jessie Hickman was a bushranger in Australia in the early twentieth century – Courtney Collins has used her story as an inspiration for The Burial in an unusual but powerful way, with the result being one which had me gripped by the intensity, while at the same time fascinated by the concept. I’ve never read a book quite like this one, but I enjoyed it none the less. A wonderful debut from an Aussie author to watch out for, and one I have no hesitation in recommending.
But when Jessie discovered she was pregnant to Fitz, she was terrified - her future looked bleak. And after a frightening night of horror and fear, Jessie frantically headed away from the farm on her beloved horse, Houdini, as fast as she could possibly go. She had done a terrible thing, but she wanted to be free – she must be free; no-one must find her….not even Jack Brown.
With the premature birth and subsequent death of her baby, Jessie found herself extremely ill. Delirious, suffering from blood loss and severe dehydration, her thoughts tormented her.
As Jessie’s story continued, it was narrated by the spirit of her dead baby. The link between mother and child was strong – as Jessie struggled, her extreme courage shone through. With depth of character, humility and determination, Jessie kept going, trying to stay one step ahead of her pursuers as she headed for the mountains which were beckoning her.
Jessie Hickman was a bushranger in Australia in the early twentieth century – Courtney Collins has used her story as an inspiration for The Burial in an unusual but powerful way, with the result being one which had me gripped by the intensity, while at the same time fascinated by the concept. I’ve never read a book quite like this one, but I enjoyed it none the less. A wonderful debut from an Aussie author to watch out for, and one I have no hesitation in recommending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 16, 2015
Wow! This book has truly taken me by surprise. From the shocking events on the first chapter I knew from that moment on that it was going to be an extraordinary piece of storytelling. This story is loosely based on the legendary bush ranger Jessie Hickman.
Jessie, 22 year old, is serving a sentence of 2 year in prison for horse rustling. Upon her release she is placed in the hands of a guardian, Fitz, to work on his remote property in the Hunter Valley, to ‘break in’ and training wild horses. Believing this to be her break to start a fresh life, she has actually falling into the hands of a cruel and sinister man who took advantage of Jessie’s unfortunate situation; he raped and beat her black and blue, and blackmailed her into horse and cattle rustling (again!) along with her secret lover. In her desperation to free herself from the clutches of this man, Jessie has committed a horrendous crime. She’s on the run from the law, her lover and a group of men who wants to claim the substantial award for her capture, Jessie heads towards the highest mountain on her beloved horse to escape.
However Jessie is not alone. There’s a spirit that is deeply connected to Jessie and won’t leave her side. It is though this spirit that we see and hear of Jessie’s pain staking journey through the harsh Australian climate for survival, and who will also give us a glimpse into Jessie’s tragic pasts.
The narrator’s voice was the best part of this story. It was pure and magical, and the only way I can describe it was that I had a sense that I was witnessing the events from up above, like I was floating the whole way through. Yet it can be raw and honest when it needed to be, especially when describing Jessie’s pain and mental anguish but I could also feel a sense of pride in the voice and encouragement to get through it. It was beautifully written and poetic, and the bond between Jessie and the narrator was quite strong and remarkable…so strong in fact that I didn’t feel any sympathy or connection to side characters. I wasn’t remotely interested in their story, it was all Jessie and the narrator for me.
Wonderful debut by a very talented writer. I’m really excited to see what she’ll come up with next. Highly recommend it
Jessie, 22 year old, is serving a sentence of 2 year in prison for horse rustling. Upon her release she is placed in the hands of a guardian, Fitz, to work on his remote property in the Hunter Valley, to ‘break in’ and training wild horses. Believing this to be her break to start a fresh life, she has actually falling into the hands of a cruel and sinister man who took advantage of Jessie’s unfortunate situation; he raped and beat her black and blue, and blackmailed her into horse and cattle rustling (again!) along with her secret lover. In her desperation to free herself from the clutches of this man, Jessie has committed a horrendous crime. She’s on the run from the law, her lover and a group of men who wants to claim the substantial award for her capture, Jessie heads towards the highest mountain on her beloved horse to escape.
However Jessie is not alone. There’s a spirit that is deeply connected to Jessie and won’t leave her side. It is though this spirit that we see and hear of Jessie’s pain staking journey through the harsh Australian climate for survival, and who will also give us a glimpse into Jessie’s tragic pasts.
The narrator’s voice was the best part of this story. It was pure and magical, and the only way I can describe it was that I had a sense that I was witnessing the events from up above, like I was floating the whole way through. Yet it can be raw and honest when it needed to be, especially when describing Jessie’s pain and mental anguish but I could also feel a sense of pride in the voice and encouragement to get through it. It was beautifully written and poetic, and the bond between Jessie and the narrator was quite strong and remarkable…so strong in fact that I didn’t feel any sympathy or connection to side characters. I wasn’t remotely interested in their story, it was all Jessie and the narrator for me.
Wonderful debut by a very talented writer. I’m really excited to see what she’ll come up with next. Highly recommend it
July 26, 2013
A real Australian gem!
This book is quite extaordinary. It gripped me right from the start, thanks to harrowing prologue and a simple trick in narrative. Inspired by the life of Jessie Hickman, a legendary outlaw in twentieth century Australia, this debut sort of tells the "making" of Jessie the lady bushranger. The prose is beautiful and the vivid and poetic descriptions of bush life amid the adversity are unmatched.
We meet Jessie, a woman with a scarred past beset by the misfortune of being forced into employment and then marriage to Fitz, a dubious cattle rancher. She flees after bludgeoning her husband to death and burning her home down, then gave birth prematurely. The child, killed and buried out of mercy, then emerges as the omnipresent narrator, providing us with a close account of Jessie on the chase, revealing her past and casting glances into her future as an outlaw.
I loved this approach. I was glued to the pages pretty much straight away. The voice of the baby as the narrator was filled with so much wisdom and empathy for his mother, you can't help but feeling for Jessie, despite of the gruesome acts she does in the book. The author did a great job painting the desperation that has befallen the whole place. Set after the Great War, the men returning from it were pretty much broken men, the economy was sluggish and the desert drier than ever. The only joy one is able to derive from were carnal pleasures.
But somehow the darkness in the book did not weigh it down--rather it came across artistically, enhanced in a way a noir movie would have been. Jessie's story is mainly a story of heartbreak, loss and survival. And yet there are moments of tenderness and acts of simple compassion during Jessie's escape that were uplifting. Those were glimmers of hope that kept me coming back to this book even though at times the story got so gut wrenching, I had to stop reading for the day to process everything.
I won't reveal the ending here, but it was predictable. After all it's history (well, sort of)! But I must say some of the twists were really unexpected. Some were welcomed, some were a little forced. Jessie's character is well-developed, but some of the other characters seemed a little one dimensional. However, the outstanding quality of this work is marked by Collins ability to capture a realistic picture of what is like to live and survive in the Australian Bush, without losing a certain poetic quality about the prose.
Highly recommended.
This book is quite extaordinary. It gripped me right from the start, thanks to harrowing prologue and a simple trick in narrative. Inspired by the life of Jessie Hickman, a legendary outlaw in twentieth century Australia, this debut sort of tells the "making" of Jessie the lady bushranger. The prose is beautiful and the vivid and poetic descriptions of bush life amid the adversity are unmatched.
We meet Jessie, a woman with a scarred past beset by the misfortune of being forced into employment and then marriage to Fitz, a dubious cattle rancher. She flees after bludgeoning her husband to death and burning her home down, then gave birth prematurely. The child, killed and buried out of mercy, then emerges as the omnipresent narrator, providing us with a close account of Jessie on the chase, revealing her past and casting glances into her future as an outlaw.
I loved this approach. I was glued to the pages pretty much straight away. The voice of the baby as the narrator was filled with so much wisdom and empathy for his mother, you can't help but feeling for Jessie, despite of the gruesome acts she does in the book. The author did a great job painting the desperation that has befallen the whole place. Set after the Great War, the men returning from it were pretty much broken men, the economy was sluggish and the desert drier than ever. The only joy one is able to derive from were carnal pleasures.
But somehow the darkness in the book did not weigh it down--rather it came across artistically, enhanced in a way a noir movie would have been. Jessie's story is mainly a story of heartbreak, loss and survival. And yet there are moments of tenderness and acts of simple compassion during Jessie's escape that were uplifting. Those were glimmers of hope that kept me coming back to this book even though at times the story got so gut wrenching, I had to stop reading for the day to process everything.
I won't reveal the ending here, but it was predictable. After all it's history (well, sort of)! But I must say some of the twists were really unexpected. Some were welcomed, some were a little forced. Jessie's character is well-developed, but some of the other characters seemed a little one dimensional. However, the outstanding quality of this work is marked by Collins ability to capture a realistic picture of what is like to live and survive in the Australian Bush, without losing a certain poetic quality about the prose.
Highly recommended.
July 9, 2014
Dark, fast-paced, and gripping this mesmerizing debut novel will be the defining definition of Australian noir. From the first line spoken, “If the dirt could speak, whose story would it tell?”, to the last line, “She said: I am here.”, the tender carefully affectionate narration by a dead baby of her mother’s life was a risky chance by the author may make the reader uncomfortable at first but so surprised me by how much empathy I had for the mother, the story’s main protagonist. It is 1921 and twenty-six year old Jessie has already been a circus performer, horse and cattle rustler, and convict. Seeking a slice of freedom that she defines for herself, Jessie is now escaping into the harsh unforgiving Australian bushland where freedom and death are often interchangeable. A substantial bounty on her head has bands of roguish of men hunting her down with dreams of relief from a hardscrabble life. But, two men hope to find her first; Black stockman Jack Brown and lawman Sergeant Andrew Barlow each harboring their own secret demons.
This story is loosely based on the life of Elizabeth Jessie Hickman, and through imaginative storytelling makes the landscape as much a character as the embittered soldiers, aborigines, convicts, and others who populated the unforgiving terrain. It was a heart-stopping adventure which took me to the edge of the precipice and back many times as despair, hope, and faith imbued the characters. I look forward to reading more books by Courtney Collins.
This story is loosely based on the life of Elizabeth Jessie Hickman, and through imaginative storytelling makes the landscape as much a character as the embittered soldiers, aborigines, convicts, and others who populated the unforgiving terrain. It was a heart-stopping adventure which took me to the edge of the precipice and back many times as despair, hope, and faith imbued the characters. I look forward to reading more books by Courtney Collins.
February 3, 2014
I really, really enjoyed this. The writing reminded me a bit of early Emma Donoghue (Slammerkin, my fave). I wish that there was a photo of the real-life Jessie, though. Highly recommend for lovers of historical fiction and murder.
August 31, 2016
I expected to like this book and looked forward to it. A woman horse thief in the mountains of AU. Cool, right? But well, it was rather weird.
First of all; it's told from the viewpoint of a dead baby. It took me a bit to get adjusted to this idea. It never grew on me, mind you; I thought it strange throughout the entire narrative. I mean, you're dead, never learned to speak, talk, understand anything, so how in the world can you tell us anything? If you didn't exist, you can't even understand what it is you are seeing and you're dead and buried, so you're not seeing anything.
It was just...too weird to get my around, I guess.
Second irritating thing: There are no dialogue tags. All the dialogue is in italics. This gives it a dreamlike feel, as if none of it is actually happening and it's all just thoughts. I hated it.
Third really irritating thing: Jack Brown is introduced. Great. Terrific. Glad to meet him. But then it's Jack Brown this, Jack Brown that. Is there some reason why the narrator can't just say JACK? I don't need to be told his full name every five seconds, every time he's mentioned.
By page 175, I realized I wasn't interested anymore and didn't care less what became of Jesse, All the irritations and the narrative itself kept me separated from the story. I wasn't THERE. You know you don't like a book when you find yourself reading your yogurt carton over and over on your break rather than the book in front of you.
One cool spot that made me chuckle:
"My mother was not one to say oh dear or oh my. She was one to say fuck. And often. It was a word she had fine-tuned in prison."
First of all; it's told from the viewpoint of a dead baby. It took me a bit to get adjusted to this idea. It never grew on me, mind you; I thought it strange throughout the entire narrative. I mean, you're dead, never learned to speak, talk, understand anything, so how in the world can you tell us anything? If you didn't exist, you can't even understand what it is you are seeing and you're dead and buried, so you're not seeing anything.
It was just...too weird to get my around, I guess.
Second irritating thing: There are no dialogue tags. All the dialogue is in italics. This gives it a dreamlike feel, as if none of it is actually happening and it's all just thoughts. I hated it.
Third really irritating thing: Jack Brown is introduced. Great. Terrific. Glad to meet him. But then it's Jack Brown this, Jack Brown that. Is there some reason why the narrator can't just say JACK? I don't need to be told his full name every five seconds, every time he's mentioned.
By page 175, I realized I wasn't interested anymore and didn't care less what became of Jesse, All the irritations and the narrative itself kept me separated from the story. I wasn't THERE. You know you don't like a book when you find yourself reading your yogurt carton over and over on your break rather than the book in front of you.
One cool spot that made me chuckle:
"My mother was not one to say oh dear or oh my. She was one to say fuck. And often. It was a word she had fine-tuned in prison."
October 14, 2012
The Burial is a poetic, reimagined tribute to the extraordinary life of legendary Australian 'lady bushranger', Jessie Hickman. Set in the 1920's, as Jessie flees the law after murdering her brutal husband, this is a brooding novel narrated by Jessie's dead newborn child, whose spirit remains tethered to her mother.
I admire the lyrical nature of this novel with it's spare yet evocative phrasing. Collins paints incredible scenes, Jessie lying bleeding by the river barely conscious, the menace and beauty of the landscape of the Widden Ranges and the idyllic camp high in the mountains, home to a group of desperate children. Yet I must admit the narrative style is not one I am entirely comfortable with. As an omniscient observer, accompanying the narrator, there is a distance created that for me blunts the connection with the characters, even though I appreciate that it is a technique that allows Collins to move in and out of past and present to reveal Jessie's genesis.
While The Burial is dark and melancholic, dwelling on loss and death, it also celebrates the triumph of survival against all odds. Jessie refuses to let go, refuses to give up, no matter the sacrifice and despite being dogged by ghosts, both living and dead. Her bravery and her determination is laudable and her trials unimaginable as she searches for grace and freedom.
Gritty yet glorious, The Burial is an impressive debut. Collins has revealed an extraordinary voice sure to be embraced by the literati.
September 12, 2015
Review will come later...my head's still back at the mountain...
Later:
The story and the writing make this a great book! The writing was so detailed and descriptive that I felt I was in the story.
The beginning was very different, but within a few pages, I had gotten used to the narrator and the style of writing. I won't say specifics, but I liked the author's choice of narrator. It made for interesting storytelling.
I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more from this author! I definitely recommend this one!
Later:
The story and the writing make this a great book! The writing was so detailed and descriptive that I felt I was in the story.
The beginning was very different, but within a few pages, I had gotten used to the narrator and the style of writing. I won't say specifics, but I liked the author's choice of narrator. It made for interesting storytelling.
I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more from this author! I definitely recommend this one!
April 22, 2024
Just read this for the second time, as the first reading was more than 10 years ago. The style of writing is a lot like Cormac McCarthy and I'm not as enamored with the story as I first was. 😑
May 27, 2017
This is basically an American Western story but set in Australia, oh, and the outlaw is a young woman! I picked this up because it was based on a true Australian woman/legend Jessie Hickman. This is a case where one bad choice led to another and another, increasing in scope along with the severity of the consequences, until she was seemingly powerless to alter the course of her life. I hoped for more development of her relationship with Jack Brown... but I'm always a sucker for a good sprinkling of romance in a book like this. If you appreciate reading about independent female characters, who are stoic in the face of adversity and who look out for themselves first, you'll enjoy this book.
July 21, 2016
From road narrative to heroine's odyssey, Courtney Collins' The Untold spins a sprawling tale of life, death, and departure. Once we accept the surreal nature of the story's narrator, a dead and buried baby, the sheer gravitational momentum of Collins' writing propels us into a state of waking-dream wonder. The writing is alive, charge with vitality galvanic. It breathes, it moves, its pulse is the pealing resonance of distant thunder. "...there were constellations wrapped in the visible sky and the sky below the horizon, and they were all spinning by some force and design. There was a carnival, a parade, on the day you were born and it was spinning around the poles of the universe." It is this grand and malleable sense of scale, from sprawling universe to small-town parade that engages the reader, as if the words and concepts are said constellations upon which we must gaze.
But why the dead baby as storyteller? I think Collins had a story that wouldn't work if told from the main character's POV. By employing such a unique narrator, the realm of possibility is exponentially increased. Has it discomfited some readers? Yes, it has, and truly that is a shame. But Collins uses this in-the-grave narrator to provide previously unimagined perspective.
If you're wondering what this story is about, the plot, the ending, the general gist, read the publisher's blurb.
I think this gives a good impression without providing a profusion of information. But I disagree with the two books they've chosen for comparison. Water for Elephants and True Grit are fine novels in their own right, but Collins surpasses these works, greatly. Collins more mirrors the writing stylings of Cormac McCarthy or Patrick deWitt's The Sisters Brothers . And when Collins fully masters the knack of braiding multiple threads of story into a single, unknotted narrative rope, she will truly be a force.
I listened to the audiobook, and Courtney Collins is the narrator. I believe if it were possible to fall in love with only a voice for guidance, I'd be on my knees before Collins. I'd be slinging Shakespeare, dealing Donne, and wielding Whitman (I may even resort to singing some Dylan), anything to win favor. Of course I'd fall flat on my face and Collins would laugh, but that'd be okay. What does all this mean? It just means that Courtney Collins nails the reading, go and listen to the audiobook. I only have one complaint with the production. The decision to insert musical tracks to denote the change in section/chapter was distracting. Each time I heard the echoing guitar riffs and faint melodic vocals, it hauled me gasping from the literary deeps (I wanted to stay down there). I heard Collins turning the occasional page, or perhaps it was just paper in the booth being moved, but it lent a sense of honest intimacy and realism to the production.
Final Thoughts:
* A fair but slightly disjointed story
* Great writing.
* Strong audiobook.
* Thought-provoking
This might most appeal to those whom enjoy richly layered writing set close to the land.
But why the dead baby as storyteller? I think Collins had a story that wouldn't work if told from the main character's POV. By employing such a unique narrator, the realm of possibility is exponentially increased. Has it discomfited some readers? Yes, it has, and truly that is a shame. But Collins uses this in-the-grave narrator to provide previously unimagined perspective.
Morning of my birth, my mother buried me in a hole that was two feet deep. Strong though she was, she was weak from my birth, and as she dug, the wind filled the hole with leaves and the rain collapsed it with mud so all that was left was a wet and spindly bed.
[...]
Soon it was light enough to see the birds stripping bark with their beaks and the morning was full of the sound of their screeching. My mother stood on my grave, packing down the dirt with her feet. She slid across the smooth river rocks and plunged her arms into the water. Blood, ash and dirt ran down as dark estuaries to her wrists. She turned her hands over in the water until they were clean, until she could see the loops and whorls of her skin magnified.
If you're wondering what this story is about, the plot, the ending, the general gist, read the publisher's blurb.
With shades of Water for Elephants and True Grit, a stunning debut novel set in the Australian outback about a female horse thief, her bid for freedom, and the two men trying to capture her.
I think this gives a good impression without providing a profusion of information. But I disagree with the two books they've chosen for comparison. Water for Elephants and True Grit are fine novels in their own right, but Collins surpasses these works, greatly. Collins more mirrors the writing stylings of Cormac McCarthy or Patrick deWitt's The Sisters Brothers . And when Collins fully masters the knack of braiding multiple threads of story into a single, unknotted narrative rope, she will truly be a force.
I listened to the audiobook, and Courtney Collins is the narrator. I believe if it were possible to fall in love with only a voice for guidance, I'd be on my knees before Collins. I'd be slinging Shakespeare, dealing Donne, and wielding Whitman (I may even resort to singing some Dylan), anything to win favor. Of course I'd fall flat on my face and Collins would laugh, but that'd be okay. What does all this mean? It just means that Courtney Collins nails the reading, go and listen to the audiobook. I only have one complaint with the production. The decision to insert musical tracks to denote the change in section/chapter was distracting. Each time I heard the echoing guitar riffs and faint melodic vocals, it hauled me gasping from the literary deeps (I wanted to stay down there). I heard Collins turning the occasional page, or perhaps it was just paper in the booth being moved, but it lent a sense of honest intimacy and realism to the production.
Final Thoughts:
* A fair but slightly disjointed story
* Great writing.
* Strong audiobook.
* Thought-provoking
This might most appeal to those whom enjoy richly layered writing set close to the land.
May 27, 2014
I love a good western. I was very excited to read this book. I just knew that Jessie was going to be a strong female heroine. Ok, so I did not realize that the narrator would be voiced by Jessie's dead baby. This creeped me out a little. After a while I got used to it. However the story was dry. There was not enough personality going into the story. It was kind of hard to feel sorry for Jessie when she could so easily slit her baby's throat. This was disturbing and a hard image for me to get out of my head. Then there was the issue of the introduction of Jessie's lover. I did not get much details about him. So, needless to say, I did not get a strong connection between them. Other then that Jack loved Jessie enough to go running after her. After a while I could not read any longer and sadly had to put this book down.
September 19, 2014
This is a piece of fictional work based on an actual historical subject narrated by a dead baby. Yes, you read that correctly. What?!?! I commend the author for trying some thing very new here, but geez, no, this doesn't work for me. Also this is isn't a constant through out the book, some times the story is just told by the author, then poof, dead baby is back. Perhaps she is trying to give a softer mother side to a horse/cow stealing, rough living, main character. This is not a character who can be softened though, she's one tough b***h. I never could get into the book, and reprimand myself for reading it to the end.
September 15, 2012
Inspired by legendary female bushranger Jessie Hickman, The Burial is a masterful and multilayered tale of birth, death and survival. Combining artfully structured narrative with a unique voice, a highly visceral setting and a dark undertone, this is a novel to savour. A stunning debut; haunting and lyrical.
August 4, 2013
The poetry of the prose in this book absolutely captured my imagination. Poignant and beautiful. A fascinating story of an Australian bush rangeress. Such a pleasant change to read about a wild, independent, uncompromising woman who doesn't need a man to survive. A wonderful read I will one day go back to.
June 22, 2015
Hmm. This book has a number of flaws, and IMO doesn't deserve the accolades it's had, but it's a lively pageturner if you can ignore the rubbishy narrative device and you're in the mood to tolerate a series of increasingly unconvincing plot points.
To see my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/06/19/th...
To see my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/06/19/th...
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June 17, 2014I was on a panel with Courtney Collins, so I was delighted to get to read her novel. It's been compared to Cormac McCarthy, and the comparison is apt: flight through a bleak, unforgiving landscape that serves as almost another character in the story. Collins's prose is spare and brutal, and the mountains of Australia came vividly alive. (I may never look at a kangaroo the same way again.)
June 18, 2013
A terrific read! hauntingly powerful it is inspired by the life of the Australian female bushranger Jessie Hickman. Her struggle for survival is gripping & is narrated by her dead daughter. Unusual, but it works.
August 9, 2017
Sometimes, authors take huge risks that can completely make or break a story, and I don't think I've seen many risks as big as the chosen narrator for this one. Having a dead infant narrate a story should never work, and yet it absolutely does here. It jostles the reader and keeps them off-kilter from the start. It's a jolt to the system, but the lyrical quality of the language pulls one on and drives the reader forward in spite of this unsettling feeling. It steals the breath. It's visceral and immediate. The writing is tight. I've seen a lot of comparisons mentioned, most notably the publicity summary on Goodreads and elsewhere mention Water for Elephants and True Grit, but the only comparison that I truly agree with is to Cormac McCarthy. The toughness, the brutality, the simpleness of the story told in rough, biting lyric definitely feels similar to his work, and I don't know of a much better compliment to offer this story than that.
What makes this even more tremendous is the fact that this is a fictional account of a real woman who truly lived through experiences every bit as harsh and brutal as any fiction could concoct. The author has given voice to a real woman from a time and a place that history and society so often overlook. While it takes place in the early twentieth-century Australian bush, this story reflects so much of the tough, independent spirit of so many women who have lived and worked in places the world over, but whom history always leaves out.
What makes this even more tremendous is the fact that this is a fictional account of a real woman who truly lived through experiences every bit as harsh and brutal as any fiction could concoct. The author has given voice to a real woman from a time and a place that history and society so often overlook. While it takes place in the early twentieth-century Australian bush, this story reflects so much of the tough, independent spirit of so many women who have lived and worked in places the world over, but whom history always leaves out.
January 16, 2020
It took me over a year to read this book--roughly a year and a half! This is no fault of the book's, I've been having a hard time with reading for some time now, so me being able to finish this at all is quite an achievement! Luckily, the book made it easy.
I enjoyed this book greatly. The descriptions and settings and the characters were vivid and beautiful and clear in my mind, even though I've never been to Australia. I was able to grasp the sheer vastness of the space through Collins' words, she did an excellent job communicating that. Every scene was beautifully written, every line so well done that I'd say it's nearly poetry. Collins shows in her work, and she does not tell.
I think one of the most striking features of this book was that of the point of view of the narrator. If I were to try and put a sense of weight and grief and heaviness to the words in a story, my first thought is not having it be told by the main character's dead baby. Tell me that before I read the book, and I'll be expecting to step into a horror story, not a thrilling adventure across the Australian bush. But despite the inherent macabre nature of a deceased infant speaking to the reader beyond the grave of its mother's life, it manages to be unexpectedly sweet and tender.
This is a good book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who can stand harsh reality and who enjoys a great story. I feel like a lot of the deeper meaning Collins put into the words were lost on me, but I know it's there, and I look forward to rereading it someday and hopefully I'll pick up on it then.
I enjoyed this book greatly. The descriptions and settings and the characters were vivid and beautiful and clear in my mind, even though I've never been to Australia. I was able to grasp the sheer vastness of the space through Collins' words, she did an excellent job communicating that. Every scene was beautifully written, every line so well done that I'd say it's nearly poetry. Collins shows in her work, and she does not tell.
I think one of the most striking features of this book was that of the point of view of the narrator. If I were to try and put a sense of weight and grief and heaviness to the words in a story, my first thought is not having it be told by the main character's dead baby. Tell me that before I read the book, and I'll be expecting to step into a horror story, not a thrilling adventure across the Australian bush. But despite the inherent macabre nature of a deceased infant speaking to the reader beyond the grave of its mother's life, it manages to be unexpectedly sweet and tender.
This is a good book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who can stand harsh reality and who enjoys a great story. I feel like a lot of the deeper meaning Collins put into the words were lost on me, but I know it's there, and I look forward to rereading it someday and hopefully I'll pick up on it then.
January 30, 2022
4.5★s
I greatly enjoyed this well written novel, based in part on the true story of a female bushranger over a century ago. It was a group read with a couple of friends, and we all enthused about it over coffee and cake.
I was particularly attracted by the depictions of the landscape. One of my co-readers lived for many years in that part of NSW and attested to the authenticity of the author's portrayal of the settings.
Jessie is a strong character, yet carries a lot of emotional burdens. The burial referred to in the title is that of her new-born daughter, who becomes a narrator of some episodes in Jessie's difficult life. Jessie's work colleague and romantic interest, Aboriginal stockman, Jack Brown, tells his side of the story as well. The author has strung together these three narrative voices in a skilled way, very impressive for a debut novelist.
It is a terrific yarn, vividly told, which took me on an emotional journey.
I greatly enjoyed this well written novel, based in part on the true story of a female bushranger over a century ago. It was a group read with a couple of friends, and we all enthused about it over coffee and cake.
I was particularly attracted by the depictions of the landscape. One of my co-readers lived for many years in that part of NSW and attested to the authenticity of the author's portrayal of the settings.
Jessie is a strong character, yet carries a lot of emotional burdens. The burial referred to in the title is that of her new-born daughter, who becomes a narrator of some episodes in Jessie's difficult life. Jessie's work colleague and romantic interest, Aboriginal stockman, Jack Brown, tells his side of the story as well. The author has strung together these three narrative voices in a skilled way, very impressive for a debut novelist.
It is a terrific yarn, vividly told, which took me on an emotional journey.
August 8, 2019
The Untold is a unique, intriguing and well-written novel about an unlikely heroine in the Australian outback of many moons ago. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a great story with unique characters and a captivating plot. Surprisingly, I found this book in hardback at a value store...$2 well spent! I’d have paid cover price. I give this book 4.8/5 🌟
June 12, 2021
3.5 well-written. Really interesting story. Strong female lead character.
March 16, 2017
Not something I would normally read, but read it for bookclub and was very moved by both the characters and the story. Interesting from a craft point of view RE pacing.
December 15, 2014
Dark and violent, The Untold lays bare the brutality of a woman's life in 1920s Australia, though in a very quiet way. The prose is meditative, understated; the most shocking of events unfold with an air of inevitability. I can see why Collins has been compared to Cormac McCarthy—if I'm being honest, that blurb was the main reason I picked up her book.
(Have I mentioned here before that Cormac McCarthy is my jam? I have owned a copy of Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West for at least five years, and I can't bring myself to read it because after I do I'll never be able to experience it for the first time again. And there are only so many McCarthy books to go around, you know? If I blow through his entire backlist before 30, then what do I do with the rest of my life?)
While I don't think Collins approaches McCarthy's stylistic mastery, the feel of The Untold was similar to his work. A gritty but haunted woman on the run from the law, forced to survive in unforgiving country armed with only her horse, her wits, and a gun? It sounds like something C-Mac could have written.
Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Collins's main character Jessie is based on an historical figure, a woman of many aliases rumored to live wild in mountain caves. The novel's Jessie, a horse rustler and onetime prison inmate, has just given birth to a child, two months too soon for it to survive in her harsh world. So she hastily buries it, along with the secret of its fatherhood, and lights out for the mountains on horseback. She knows she will be pursued, because she leaves in her wake the corpse of her husband, bludgeoned with the blunt side of an ax and shoved into the cellar.
Following Jessie's trail are two desperate men: one her lover, terrified of what may have happened to Jessie and her baby, and the other a lawman, battling personal demons and hunting her for reasons beyond simple justice. The novel may be set in Australia, but the storytelling is reminiscent of American Westerns—good and evil fighting it out against a stark landscape—with the notable exception that in Collins's tale, there is no clear divide between the two.
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
(Have I mentioned here before that Cormac McCarthy is my jam? I have owned a copy of Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West for at least five years, and I can't bring myself to read it because after I do I'll never be able to experience it for the first time again. And there are only so many McCarthy books to go around, you know? If I blow through his entire backlist before 30, then what do I do with the rest of my life?)
While I don't think Collins approaches McCarthy's stylistic mastery, the feel of The Untold was similar to his work. A gritty but haunted woman on the run from the law, forced to survive in unforgiving country armed with only her horse, her wits, and a gun? It sounds like something C-Mac could have written.
Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Collins's main character Jessie is based on an historical figure, a woman of many aliases rumored to live wild in mountain caves. The novel's Jessie, a horse rustler and onetime prison inmate, has just given birth to a child, two months too soon for it to survive in her harsh world. So she hastily buries it, along with the secret of its fatherhood, and lights out for the mountains on horseback. She knows she will be pursued, because she leaves in her wake the corpse of her husband, bludgeoned with the blunt side of an ax and shoved into the cellar.
Following Jessie's trail are two desperate men: one her lover, terrified of what may have happened to Jessie and her baby, and the other a lawman, battling personal demons and hunting her for reasons beyond simple justice. The novel may be set in Australia, but the storytelling is reminiscent of American Westerns—good and evil fighting it out against a stark landscape—with the notable exception that in Collins's tale, there is no clear divide between the two.
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
August 23, 2014
"If the dirt could speak, whose story would it tell?" So begins the first chapter of The Untold, a most compelling, lyrical, debut novel. I had my doubts about a story told by a dead baby (yes), but was soon quite caught up in the fascinating tale of Jessie, a near wild woman just one step ahead of the law and a pack of lawless vigilantes. Jessie's journey is more about action than about thought, so, while you are privy to her planning, you catch only rare glimpses of her emotion, held at bay by her drive to survive. This is one of those novels that tells just enough, has a rich back story, and sweeps you along on an incredible story of escape--not just once, but many times over. It is not insignificant that the "prelude" of the novel is about the greatest escape artist of all, Houdini, and that Jessie's horse is named Houdini. About the dead baby...somehow it works. The baby ties the living to the dead and the earth to the stars with a penetrating omniscience that allows the reader to move with the characters and also above and below them as they travel through the wide Australian landscape of flat spaces and steep, rocky mountains.
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