The Voices

by Susan Elderkin

In the remote, blood red dust of the Australian bush, thirteen-year-old Billy Saint finds guidance—not from his parents or their Western culture—but from the landscape itself. He turns to the outback, drawing the only joy he’s known from simply watching and mimicking the kangaroos. On his trips alone to the bush near his home, he begins to hear the Voices of the country, inscrutable figures that are alternately repulsed and attracted by the modern world. Alone, they squabble with themselves and the Wind, ever slighted by the Aboriginals who no longer hear them. They turn to Billy, sensing that he, although white, may be their last hope for survival. But it is Maisie, an enigmatic and ghostly Aborigine girl, and a friend to the Voices, who befriends Billy on one of his forays, and together they explore the land and each other’s worlds, leaving the Voices to wallow in their sloth and despair. As Billy ventures further into the untamed land, his parents are drawn deeper into their own private miseries, unable to reach out to their son before he drifts away. Confused by the quiet desperation at home, and terrified of the power he finds in the Voices of the bush, Billy flees to the relative safety and quiet of an underground mining community. The cacophonous sounds of the mine drown out the Voices, and he begins to feel relatively safe within this new community.

Ten years later Billy is alone in a hospital, recovering from gruesome wounds of mysterious origin. Protecting him from the prying of the doctors, who believe him a dangerous schizophrenic responsible for the mad beating of a man on a train, is Cecily, an aboriginal nurse, and in her Billy finds an unlikely ally as he struggles to piece himself back together. For it is Cecily who understands what his wounds signify, even if she has never seen them on a white man before. Shifting between his hospital stay and the childhood that lead him there, The Voices unfolds into a mesmerizing exploration of the relationship between a man, the land he loves, and the spirits of the country, struggling to be heard before it is too late.

With her haunting and psychologically complex tale of one boy who has internalized the trauma and the schisms of his land and its history, Elderkin boldly exposes the long and forceful arm of institutionalized injustice, and the inescapable hold of collective memory. The Voices is an extraordinary accomplishment.

Genres: Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Susan Elderkin is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels, Sunset over Chocolate Mountains and The Voices. One of Granta’s 20 Best Young British Novelists in 2003, she has taught creative writing at all levels, from Arvon courses to the creative writing MAs at Birkbeck and Goldsmith’s. She also works as a critic, a journalist, and a bibliotherapist for The School of Life.

Susan is prized by her students for her innovative approach, and has accompanied many of them all the way to publication.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Setting: Kimberley region, Australia. This is largely the tale of Billie, from childhood to adulthood - raised by his panel-beater father and his lackadaisical mother, Billie escapes into the Bush where he spends hours ingratiating himself into a local kangaroo mob. Throughout his life, Billie is being observed and, to a certain extent, protected by The Voices - a group of ancient Aboriginal spirits - who are constantly fighting against people not believing in them. Reminiscent of The Dreamtime, The Voices also have a lot of conversation and interaction with The Wind. During the story, a spirit-child, Maisie, also joins The Voices and she 'sings up' Billie so that he will always be in love with her - but Maisie's plans for Billie are put to the test....
The harshness and heat of the Outback landscape, together with the hardened characters that inhabit the area, are evocatively described - it seemed really lifelike to me. Also the descriptions of the hardships suffered by, and the mistreatment of, the Aborigine population which, for a non-Australian author, seem to me to have been incredibly well done. Great read - 9/10.

[Chanda Prescod-weinstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books, end of conversation. Read it.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can quibble about things I wish the author did differently, primarily the tempo at the end of the book, and the way she tried to wrap things up too nicely at the very end, even though things are messier than that (I smell an editor's hand in that). But, really, this was a powerful book, beautifully written and with deeply lyrical scenery. Definitely a book you should read.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

haunting and memorable

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great description of the Australian outback, but damned if I know what the hell was going on. A bit artsy-fartsy for me.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok, sort of confusing and subtle, but l guess that was the point.

[Janet Panter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written even though I didn't really understand a lot of it

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the first things that struck me about The Voices is that one of the viewpoints in the book is first-person plural. With such an unusual POV, I knew that this was definitely going to be a book to see what happens in.

Susan Elderkin is a strong, powerful writer who can truly represent her characters and the world they move in with exquisite precision. The writing in this book is some of the best I've read in a long time, and it might even seem slightly odd to anyone familiar with her work, but I was slightly reminded of Kurt Vonnegut while reading this book. Perhaps it was the sharp understated humour of the narrators or the short hard chapters with quippy titles. Perhaps it was the threatening existentialism underneath the writing or the desolate landscapes with lone characters moving through a sea of humanity.

I enjoyed this book, but I found it a hard slog occasionally, and only give it a 3-star rating because of the difficulty of subject matter and chewy (yet beautiful) prose. This took me a long time to read, and I was a bit desolate at times in the middle, but I am glad I stuck through and finished it, because while the ending was quiet, it also helped give closure for the whole story.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book unless a reader is looking for a deeper story about spirituality and aboriginal issues and human suffering. However, I will look for other books by Elderkin and try her again.

[Mark Speed · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some ways, this was better than the author's debut novel, my review of which you can read here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The reasons I think it's a shade better are that she'd clearly matured as a writer, and it's not (that I know) based on any aspect of her life other than the time she spent in Australia. It also deals with issues that are beyond the experience of most of us, so it's a stretch for the reader too.

[Sheib · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twas good, not great.