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Storyland
An ambitious, remarkable and moving novel about who we are: our past, present and future, and our connection to this land.
In 1796, a young cabin boy, Will Martin, goes on a voyage of discovery in the Tom Thumb with Matthew Flinders and Mr Bass: two men and a boy in a tiny boat on an exploratory journey south from Sydney Cove to the Illawarra, full of hope and dreams, daring and fearfulness.
Set on the banks of Lake Illawarra and spanning four centuries, Storyland is a unique and compelling novel of people and place - which tells in essence the story of Australia. Told in an unfurling narrative of interlinking stories, in a style reminiscent of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, McKinnon weaves together the stories of Will Martin together with the stories of four others: a desperate ex-convict, Hawker, who commits an act of terrible brutality; Lola, who in 1900 runs a dairy farm on the Illawarra with her brother and sister, when they come under suspicion for a crime they did not commit; Bel, a young girl who goes on a rafting adventure with her friends in 1998 and is unexpectedly caught up in violent events; and in 2033, Nada, who sees her world start to crumble apart. Intriguingly, all these characters are all connected - not only through the same land and water they inhabit over the decades, but also by tendrils of blood, history, memory and property...
Compelling, thrilling and ambitious, Storyland is our story, the story of Australia. 'The land is a book waiting to be read' as one of the characters says - and this novel tells us an unforgettable and unputdownable story of our history, our present and our future.
In 1796, a young cabin boy, Will Martin, goes on a voyage of discovery in the Tom Thumb with Matthew Flinders and Mr Bass: two men and a boy in a tiny boat on an exploratory journey south from Sydney Cove to the Illawarra, full of hope and dreams, daring and fearfulness.
Set on the banks of Lake Illawarra and spanning four centuries, Storyland is a unique and compelling novel of people and place - which tells in essence the story of Australia. Told in an unfurling narrative of interlinking stories, in a style reminiscent of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, McKinnon weaves together the stories of Will Martin together with the stories of four others: a desperate ex-convict, Hawker, who commits an act of terrible brutality; Lola, who in 1900 runs a dairy farm on the Illawarra with her brother and sister, when they come under suspicion for a crime they did not commit; Bel, a young girl who goes on a rafting adventure with her friends in 1998 and is unexpectedly caught up in violent events; and in 2033, Nada, who sees her world start to crumble apart. Intriguingly, all these characters are all connected - not only through the same land and water they inhabit over the decades, but also by tendrils of blood, history, memory and property...
Compelling, thrilling and ambitious, Storyland is our story, the story of Australia. 'The land is a book waiting to be read' as one of the characters says - and this novel tells us an unforgettable and unputdownable story of our history, our present and our future.
400 pages, Paperback
First published March 27, 2017
88 people are currently reading
1269 people want to read
About the author
Catherine McKinnon
10 books35 followersCatherine McKinnon is a novelist, playwright, and director. She studied at Flinders University Drama Centre and then became a founding member of the Red Shed Theatre Company. Over a nine-year period she worked for the Shed as a writer, director,
dramaturg, and co-artistic coordinator. She directed, and with company members and writers, helped develop, many new Australian plays.
During this time she also freelanced to the State Theatre Company of SA. After leaving Adelaide she completed a Masters in
Creative Writing at UTS Sydney, and worked for April Films, on a documentary about the making of Jindabyne, before undertaking a PhD at Flinders University, which included a
creative project, (a novel), and an exegesis. In 2006 she won the Penguin Women’s Weekly
Award for her short story Haley and the Sea. In 2008 Penguin Viking published her novel,
The Nearly Happy Family.
dramaturg, and co-artistic coordinator. She directed, and with company members and writers, helped develop, many new Australian plays.
During this time she also freelanced to the State Theatre Company of SA. After leaving Adelaide she completed a Masters in
Creative Writing at UTS Sydney, and worked for April Films, on a documentary about the making of Jindabyne, before undertaking a PhD at Flinders University, which included a
creative project, (a novel), and an exegesis. In 2006 she won the Penguin Women’s Weekly
Award for her short story Haley and the Sea. In 2008 Penguin Viking published her novel,
The Nearly Happy Family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews
January 2, 2025
3.5 ~4★
“At first, the coast is like the walls of a crumbling castle, only walls where shrubs have rooted. It is forbidding and eye-gobbing. This is not a land of elves and fairies, but one full of misshapen monsters and skeleton ghosts...
We spy a likely spot for a stream and sail through a gap in the reef but cannot land as the surf is in a beheading mood.”
I’m a fan of short stories, especially linked or interconnecting or overlapping ones, where something from one story appears in another. In this historical fiction about the Illawarra region of NSW Australia, we see a stone axe and a giant fig tree (like the one on the cover) appear as significant items to people from the late 1700s to the future. The author has included some maps at the end to indicate where the area is and the names by which landmarks were known.
The stories move between a few groups of people in different eras. I enjoyed the first era—“Will Martin 1796”—which included Matthew Flinders as a young, fairly humourless lieutenant). They’re sailing south from Sydney looking for a good river and fresh water. But it’s pretty scary, and I’m glad I wasn’t there.
“Yes, I have heard tales of cannibals living south of Botany Bay, but hearing tales is different from standing on a beach knowing one could soon hunt me. Here, death and life are wrangling twins and I am standing in between.”
The second era is “Hawker 1822”, which is about settlers and convicts struggling to grow corn and protect it from the natives who are raiding the fields. They keep their grog and guns at the ready, there is a slaughter, and I’m glad I wasn’t there then, either.
“For the forest is thick with giant trees and ferns and vines, and also with unnatural animals and birds that screech and fight all through the night. I never feared a forest before. . . Had not reckoned on the dark days it gives me, days when I go out with a stirring to shoot everything in sight; a stirring stilled only by grog. This forest grows a part of me I never knew.”
The third era, “Lola 1900” revolves around a young girl and what’s left of her family on a dairy farm, milking Illawarra Shorthorns, handsome red dairy cows that were just being established as a recognised breed. The idea of being mixed-blood is abhorrent to the white community. Again, there’s a murder, so I’m equally glad I wasn’t there then.
“I told him you and Abe ain’t even half-castes, Mary, told him you is quadroon. He said back to me it makes no difference you both being quadroon because your skin tricks people into thinking you is both exotic and not two dirty blackfellas . . .”
The fourth era jumps nearly a century to “Bel 1998”, which is closer to current times, and revolves around a mixed bunch of kids with a dog who have built themselves a raft and play. One of the kids describes the fig tree which features in all the stories. They are amazing looking things.
Photo of a Ficus obliqua
“It’s a great tree because the roots are above ground. They look like elephant hide. Actually, it looks like lots of different trees plaited together but it’s not, it’s one tree. And when you sit underneath, it’s like being in a huge huge tent that has all the flaps open.”
The kids befriend and hang around an older girl who lives with (I use the term loosely) her boyfriend (I use the term loosely) who beats her up. They are artists, selling Aboriginal art to tourists. I’m here today, like it or not.
The fifth era “Nada 2033 & 2717” is an extremely strange futuristic session where a ‘therapist’ is taking Nada back through her ‘membank’ to remember the past. This is a really unsettling section and boy, I’m really glad nobody I know will be living in 2717!
“We don’t know what happened. You lived in a period of great upheaval. No one lives permanently beyond Border 29 any longer.”
The first four eras are revisited (in reverse order after Nada), but a lot is still unresolved. And that is pretty much my feeling after finishing the book. There seemed to be some loose ends that left me feeling disappointed.
There is a lot to like in these fictional histories, and I look forward to more from the author.
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted (so quotes may have changed). I hope the few anachronisms I spotted haven’t made it to the final publication.
“At first, the coast is like the walls of a crumbling castle, only walls where shrubs have rooted. It is forbidding and eye-gobbing. This is not a land of elves and fairies, but one full of misshapen monsters and skeleton ghosts...
We spy a likely spot for a stream and sail through a gap in the reef but cannot land as the surf is in a beheading mood.”
I’m a fan of short stories, especially linked or interconnecting or overlapping ones, where something from one story appears in another. In this historical fiction about the Illawarra region of NSW Australia, we see a stone axe and a giant fig tree (like the one on the cover) appear as significant items to people from the late 1700s to the future. The author has included some maps at the end to indicate where the area is and the names by which landmarks were known.
The stories move between a few groups of people in different eras. I enjoyed the first era—“Will Martin 1796”—which included Matthew Flinders as a young, fairly humourless lieutenant). They’re sailing south from Sydney looking for a good river and fresh water. But it’s pretty scary, and I’m glad I wasn’t there.
“Yes, I have heard tales of cannibals living south of Botany Bay, but hearing tales is different from standing on a beach knowing one could soon hunt me. Here, death and life are wrangling twins and I am standing in between.”
The second era is “Hawker 1822”, which is about settlers and convicts struggling to grow corn and protect it from the natives who are raiding the fields. They keep their grog and guns at the ready, there is a slaughter, and I’m glad I wasn’t there then, either.
“For the forest is thick with giant trees and ferns and vines, and also with unnatural animals and birds that screech and fight all through the night. I never feared a forest before. . . Had not reckoned on the dark days it gives me, days when I go out with a stirring to shoot everything in sight; a stirring stilled only by grog. This forest grows a part of me I never knew.”
The third era, “Lola 1900” revolves around a young girl and what’s left of her family on a dairy farm, milking Illawarra Shorthorns, handsome red dairy cows that were just being established as a recognised breed. The idea of being mixed-blood is abhorrent to the white community. Again, there’s a murder, so I’m equally glad I wasn’t there then.
“I told him you and Abe ain’t even half-castes, Mary, told him you is quadroon. He said back to me it makes no difference you both being quadroon because your skin tricks people into thinking you is both exotic and not two dirty blackfellas . . .”
The fourth era jumps nearly a century to “Bel 1998”, which is closer to current times, and revolves around a mixed bunch of kids with a dog who have built themselves a raft and play. One of the kids describes the fig tree which features in all the stories. They are amazing looking things.
Photo of a Ficus obliqua
“It’s a great tree because the roots are above ground. They look like elephant hide. Actually, it looks like lots of different trees plaited together but it’s not, it’s one tree. And when you sit underneath, it’s like being in a huge huge tent that has all the flaps open.”
The kids befriend and hang around an older girl who lives with (I use the term loosely) her boyfriend (I use the term loosely) who beats her up. They are artists, selling Aboriginal art to tourists. I’m here today, like it or not.
The fifth era “Nada 2033 & 2717” is an extremely strange futuristic session where a ‘therapist’ is taking Nada back through her ‘membank’ to remember the past. This is a really unsettling section and boy, I’m really glad nobody I know will be living in 2717!
“We don’t know what happened. You lived in a period of great upheaval. No one lives permanently beyond Border 29 any longer.”
The first four eras are revisited (in reverse order after Nada), but a lot is still unresolved. And that is pretty much my feeling after finishing the book. There seemed to be some loose ends that left me feeling disappointed.
There is a lot to like in these fictional histories, and I look forward to more from the author.
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted (so quotes may have changed). I hope the few anachronisms I spotted haven’t made it to the final publication.
March 25, 2017
This fantastic book had me entranced from start to finish. Spanning centuries, these interconnected stories share a common location - Australia's Lake Illawarra and nearby Five Islands.
The five stories are separate, yet inescapably connected by their surroundings. Features of the landscape reappear throughout: a cave system, a body of water, a thousand-year-old fig tree. Geographical details are so vividly rendered that I felt like I was there, sailing down the coastline, paddling up a river, or traipsing through the bush.
The book's structure consists of nested narratives that break off mid sentence, which will draw obvious comparisons to David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. But Mitchell's stories are highly saturated, brightly coloured things, whereas McKinnon's Storyland is sepia-toned, tinged with menace and portending violence. The structure works well here, both to build suspense and to demonstrate that the history of a place is always present within it.
Storyland is about the stories we tell ourselves, and the land which connects us. And it reminds us that, in the long run, neither are as transient or as immutable as they might seem.
The five stories are separate, yet inescapably connected by their surroundings. Features of the landscape reappear throughout: a cave system, a body of water, a thousand-year-old fig tree. Geographical details are so vividly rendered that I felt like I was there, sailing down the coastline, paddling up a river, or traipsing through the bush.
The book's structure consists of nested narratives that break off mid sentence, which will draw obvious comparisons to David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. But Mitchell's stories are highly saturated, brightly coloured things, whereas McKinnon's Storyland is sepia-toned, tinged with menace and portending violence. The structure works well here, both to build suspense and to demonstrate that the history of a place is always present within it.
Storyland is about the stories we tell ourselves, and the land which connects us. And it reminds us that, in the long run, neither are as transient or as immutable as they might seem.
July 5, 2018
4 stars
If it wasn't for the Miles Franklin shortlist, I would not have picked up another book of short stories. I have to admit that when they are linked like these were, I do enjoy them more for a richer and fuller experience. But still, short stories are really not my thing. The most interesting part of this book was the dystopian section and as per GR friends Trudie's remark, on her own review of this, I could have read a whole book on this story segment. Probably the weakest point for me was 1822.
One word I will never forget from this read... "Lagoon, Lagoon" and will recall the excited mainlander each time I venture into the Illawarra.
If it wasn't for the Miles Franklin shortlist, I would not have picked up another book of short stories. I have to admit that when they are linked like these were, I do enjoy them more for a richer and fuller experience. But still, short stories are really not my thing. The most interesting part of this book was the dystopian section and as per GR friends Trudie's remark, on her own review of this, I could have read a whole book on this story segment. Probably the weakest point for me was 1822.
One word I will never forget from this read... "Lagoon, Lagoon" and will recall the excited mainlander each time I venture into the Illawarra.
August 16, 2024
This is a very clever read, though it is hard not think that Catherine McKinnon was heavily influenced by David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas in terms of structure with historical and Sci Fi fiction mixed in the pyramid style telling that made Cloud Atlas the great read that it was and still is.
Storyland is not in the same league as Cloud Atlas, but that should not detract from what is a very good book. All stories take place in the Illawarra district of NSW, and all are vaguely connected along the way. All are told in the first person.
The historical story covers the voyage of The Tom Thumb with Mathew Flinders, George Bass and Will Martin, an event that took place and is documented. We have a murder from 1900 and domestic violence as seen by a 10-year-old girl in 1998. The middle Sci Fi element takes us into two futures and takes in a dystopian nightmare of societal collapse in 2033 and that collapse brought back via memory retrieval in 2717.
I listened to an audiobook presentation via my premium Spotify account while out walking. It was a good enough read to have me lose track of time and distance once or twice. No mean feat.
This is either a something for everyone style read or if only interested in a specific genre may not be one's style. It is recommended as such.
Storyland is not in the same league as Cloud Atlas, but that should not detract from what is a very good book. All stories take place in the Illawarra district of NSW, and all are vaguely connected along the way. All are told in the first person.
The historical story covers the voyage of The Tom Thumb with Mathew Flinders, George Bass and Will Martin, an event that took place and is documented. We have a murder from 1900 and domestic violence as seen by a 10-year-old girl in 1998. The middle Sci Fi element takes us into two futures and takes in a dystopian nightmare of societal collapse in 2033 and that collapse brought back via memory retrieval in 2717.
I listened to an audiobook presentation via my premium Spotify account while out walking. It was a good enough read to have me lose track of time and distance once or twice. No mean feat.
This is either a something for everyone style read or if only interested in a specific genre may not be one's style. It is recommended as such.
June 30, 2017
In 1796 cabin boy Will Martin accompanies George Bass and Matthew Flinders on a nine day exploration of the coast south of the settlement at Sydney Cove. They are in an open boat. The purpose is to find a river to supply fresh water for the convict colony. Their encounters with the aboriginal inhabitants are tense and fraught with misunderstandings.
In 1822 three brothers who are relatives of Will Martin help supervise a convict who is guarding a field of corn in the Illawarra region, the region that had been explored by the three men in 1796. The tense relationships with the local inhabitants results in tragedy.
Then in 1900 in the same region three siblings who are part aboriginal run a dairy farm. There are racial tensions with other settlers. And another tragedy.
In 1998 three children play on Lake Illawarra. There is menace but the danger comes from a direction I didn't expect.
And in 2717 a woman describes the events in 2033 when the area is hit by a cyclone as a result of the increasing weather disturbances from climate change. This dystopian chapter is exciting and oh so believable.
Then we revisit the events in 1998 and 1900 and 1822 and 1796 again to complete their stories.
So this is a little bit between a book of interlinking short stories and a novel covering five different time zones. The constant is the landscape and natural features. There is a big fig tree that people can climb and from where they can see the land and the lake all around them. There is a rock shaped like a fish in the river and a series of three caves where people take shelter and hide things. And there are artefacts that appear in different times, a stone axe, a brooch lost in 1900 and found in 1998.
This was an interesting way of showing the land and its constancy. Sometimes the action became exciting in a page turning sort of way. At other times the stories were too slow. There was an air of menace in some of the stores that I didn't enjoy. But the pivotal central story/chapter set in 2033 was magnificent.
In 1822 three brothers who are relatives of Will Martin help supervise a convict who is guarding a field of corn in the Illawarra region, the region that had been explored by the three men in 1796. The tense relationships with the local inhabitants results in tragedy.
Then in 1900 in the same region three siblings who are part aboriginal run a dairy farm. There are racial tensions with other settlers. And another tragedy.
In 1998 three children play on Lake Illawarra. There is menace but the danger comes from a direction I didn't expect.
And in 2717 a woman describes the events in 2033 when the area is hit by a cyclone as a result of the increasing weather disturbances from climate change. This dystopian chapter is exciting and oh so believable.
Then we revisit the events in 1998 and 1900 and 1822 and 1796 again to complete their stories.
So this is a little bit between a book of interlinking short stories and a novel covering five different time zones. The constant is the landscape and natural features. There is a big fig tree that people can climb and from where they can see the land and the lake all around them. There is a rock shaped like a fish in the river and a series of three caves where people take shelter and hide things. And there are artefacts that appear in different times, a stone axe, a brooch lost in 1900 and found in 1998.
This was an interesting way of showing the land and its constancy. Sometimes the action became exciting in a page turning sort of way. At other times the stories were too slow. There was an air of menace in some of the stores that I didn't enjoy. But the pivotal central story/chapter set in 2033 was magnificent.
June 3, 2021
“’See that lake there,’ Uncle Ray says, looking along the side of his house to the water. ‘That was here before any of us, and that creek that runs down from the mountain to the lake, that was here too, and the mountain, and the trees, and the birds. We’re part of their story, not the other way around’”
Storyland is the second novel by Australian teacher, playwright, theatre director and author, Catherine McKinnon. The audio version is narrated by Ulli Birve and Grant Cartwright. A cabin boy, an ex-convict, a dairy farmer, a young schoolgirl and a middle-aged woman are the narrators that McKinnon uses to tell a tale that spans centuries.
Will Martin is the fifteen-year-old cabin boy who accompanies Bass and Flinders in the Tom Thumb in 1796 on a trip south to find a river for the Governor. They unintentionally end up near Hat Hill, in desperate need of fresh water but are wary of the natives they encounter.
Will has earlier learned bits of their language and the Southern sky: “Now I gaze up at the stars and moon every night and, moreover, speak the in two languages, where once I did not give thought to them at all. Now I know how big the world is. Before, not knowing the world’s bigness meant that tomorrow looked like yesterday. Yet knowing makes it harder to spy ahead, as now I see tomorrow as unmade and know it will always be so”
Tending cornfields and fending off the natives on the shores of this godforsaken lake with only a lazy skulker to help is not what ex-convict Hawker wants to be doing in the harvest time of 1822. Trying to impress the landowner’s overseer in the hope of a transfer to the cooler climes and better conditions of Appin, he perpetrates a shocking act of violence.
In 1900, Lola McBride runs a herd of 21 Illawarra Red Shorthorn cattle with her half-sister Mary and her half-brother, Abe, right by Mullet Creek at the edge of the Five Islands Estate. They are surprised to encounter a derogatory attitude from a neighbour, and when his daughter disappears, is quick to lay blame.
Ten-year-old Bel is glad to relieve the boredom of the 1997-8 Christmas Holidays rafting along the shores of Lake Illawarra with new-found friends, Isha and Tarak. Her dad says it’s OK as long as they stick to the rules they’ve agreed on. But when they meet Kristie in their special place, some of those rules go out the window.
In 2033, Cyclone Frank has caused more devastation than any earlier storm Nada has ever experienced, and now Ben is sick. She decides to leave their cottage on the slopes of Mount Kembla to get the medication he needs, but the world she finds below is unrecognisable, in more ways than one.
The format of this book will be familiar to readers of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas: each narrative nestled within an earlier one. They stop mid-sentence, but segue smoothly into the next facilitated by pelicans, owls, eagles and whipbirds. Connection to place is a common theme, but these disparate stories are also connected by people, objects, landmarks, vegetation and blood ties.
McKinnon uses her tale to explore interactions between indigenous and whites, and how cruelty, ignorance and racist attitudes changed with time. She also touches on ownership of artefacts and sacred sites, and climate change and rising oceans. Her descriptive prose is gorgeous, and her extensive research is apparent in every paragraph. Readers familiar with the area will doubtless be trying to identify the locations of each narrative. All this is contained inside a wonderfully evocative cover. A superlative read.
Storyland is the second novel by Australian teacher, playwright, theatre director and author, Catherine McKinnon. The audio version is narrated by Ulli Birve and Grant Cartwright. A cabin boy, an ex-convict, a dairy farmer, a young schoolgirl and a middle-aged woman are the narrators that McKinnon uses to tell a tale that spans centuries.
Will Martin is the fifteen-year-old cabin boy who accompanies Bass and Flinders in the Tom Thumb in 1796 on a trip south to find a river for the Governor. They unintentionally end up near Hat Hill, in desperate need of fresh water but are wary of the natives they encounter.
Will has earlier learned bits of their language and the Southern sky: “Now I gaze up at the stars and moon every night and, moreover, speak the in two languages, where once I did not give thought to them at all. Now I know how big the world is. Before, not knowing the world’s bigness meant that tomorrow looked like yesterday. Yet knowing makes it harder to spy ahead, as now I see tomorrow as unmade and know it will always be so”
Tending cornfields and fending off the natives on the shores of this godforsaken lake with only a lazy skulker to help is not what ex-convict Hawker wants to be doing in the harvest time of 1822. Trying to impress the landowner’s overseer in the hope of a transfer to the cooler climes and better conditions of Appin, he perpetrates a shocking act of violence.
In 1900, Lola McBride runs a herd of 21 Illawarra Red Shorthorn cattle with her half-sister Mary and her half-brother, Abe, right by Mullet Creek at the edge of the Five Islands Estate. They are surprised to encounter a derogatory attitude from a neighbour, and when his daughter disappears, is quick to lay blame.
Ten-year-old Bel is glad to relieve the boredom of the 1997-8 Christmas Holidays rafting along the shores of Lake Illawarra with new-found friends, Isha and Tarak. Her dad says it’s OK as long as they stick to the rules they’ve agreed on. But when they meet Kristie in their special place, some of those rules go out the window.
In 2033, Cyclone Frank has caused more devastation than any earlier storm Nada has ever experienced, and now Ben is sick. She decides to leave their cottage on the slopes of Mount Kembla to get the medication he needs, but the world she finds below is unrecognisable, in more ways than one.
The format of this book will be familiar to readers of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas: each narrative nestled within an earlier one. They stop mid-sentence, but segue smoothly into the next facilitated by pelicans, owls, eagles and whipbirds. Connection to place is a common theme, but these disparate stories are also connected by people, objects, landmarks, vegetation and blood ties.
McKinnon uses her tale to explore interactions between indigenous and whites, and how cruelty, ignorance and racist attitudes changed with time. She also touches on ownership of artefacts and sacred sites, and climate change and rising oceans. Her descriptive prose is gorgeous, and her extensive research is apparent in every paragraph. Readers familiar with the area will doubtless be trying to identify the locations of each narrative. All this is contained inside a wonderfully evocative cover. A superlative read.
September 1, 2018
‘This land is a forever land.
The clock ticks to a different time.’
When I heard about this book I wanted it, boy did I want it bad. I mean, c’mon, how often is a fiction book set on the banks of Lake Illawarra! And then to discover the author was giving a talk at Wollongong Library, well, I eagerly attended and I left happy as Larry with a signed copy.
I live very close to the Lake and only one street over from Hooka Creek and not too far from Mullet Creek. The area and waterways has been our playground for many years - we take our dog for a stroll alongside Hooka Creek, we power walk on the shared pedestrian cycleway next to the lakes foreshore as well as picnicking, and kayak on Mullet Creek, so it was absolutely fascinating reading about the area I live in.
Storyland is an interesting voyage into Australian history spanning four centuries. It was cleverly structured and I loved the connecting stories, each one narrated by five different people. The story opens in 1796 with Will Martin, a young cabin boy sailing with Matthew Flinders and George Bass, on the Tom Thumb, traveling south from Sydney Cove to the Illawarra and then advances to 1822, Hawker, an ex convict who commits a brutal crime, and in 1900, we have Lola who runs an isolated dairy skirting the Five Islands Estate with her half brother and sister, who are thought to be guilty when a young girl goes missing, Storyland then skips to 1998, Bel, a 10 year old girl goes rafting with two boys and gets involved with a young woman and her violent boyfriend, 2033 and 2717 run together, Nada, the fifth and last voice in this superb tale, sees her land crumble around her, climate catastrophe has caused severe destruction.
The writing is exquisite and the flowing descriptive language is intoxicating.
An outstanding read. Highly recommended.
#Book Bingo 2018: ‘A book with a one-word title’ - Storyland by Catherine McKinnon
The clock ticks to a different time.’
When I heard about this book I wanted it, boy did I want it bad. I mean, c’mon, how often is a fiction book set on the banks of Lake Illawarra! And then to discover the author was giving a talk at Wollongong Library, well, I eagerly attended and I left happy as Larry with a signed copy.
I live very close to the Lake and only one street over from Hooka Creek and not too far from Mullet Creek. The area and waterways has been our playground for many years - we take our dog for a stroll alongside Hooka Creek, we power walk on the shared pedestrian cycleway next to the lakes foreshore as well as picnicking, and kayak on Mullet Creek, so it was absolutely fascinating reading about the area I live in.
Storyland is an interesting voyage into Australian history spanning four centuries. It was cleverly structured and I loved the connecting stories, each one narrated by five different people. The story opens in 1796 with Will Martin, a young cabin boy sailing with Matthew Flinders and George Bass, on the Tom Thumb, traveling south from Sydney Cove to the Illawarra and then advances to 1822, Hawker, an ex convict who commits a brutal crime, and in 1900, we have Lola who runs an isolated dairy skirting the Five Islands Estate with her half brother and sister, who are thought to be guilty when a young girl goes missing, Storyland then skips to 1998, Bel, a 10 year old girl goes rafting with two boys and gets involved with a young woman and her violent boyfriend, 2033 and 2717 run together, Nada, the fifth and last voice in this superb tale, sees her land crumble around her, climate catastrophe has caused severe destruction.
The writing is exquisite and the flowing descriptive language is intoxicating.
An outstanding read. Highly recommended.
#Book Bingo 2018: ‘A book with a one-word title’ - Storyland by Catherine McKinnon
June 23, 2018
*3.5*
I had my eye on this novel ever since Jennifer Byrne made it sound intriguingly like an Australian Cloud Atlas on the now sadly defunct Book Show . It has also recently made the 2018 Miles Franklin shortlist.
I enjoyed this one, for the most part, as a nice Australian historical novel based in the Lake Illawarra region of NSW and spanning time from 1796 until 2717. It is ambitious in scope but in my mind it did suffer a little by mirroring the "nested Russian dolls" structure of Cloud Atlas, as that is really the only similarity the two books share. However, McKinnon does have fun with this setup and I think it worked well for what she was trying to achieve.
It is inevitable in this type of multi-narrative setup that some stories appealed more than others. I enjoyed and wanted more from the exploratory seafaring tale voiced by Will and I would have happily read an entire novel based in the dystopian future section. I did feel aggrieved that none of the stories we started out on concluded particularly satisfactorily and the connection between them often required some rigorous attention to detail to unlock.
The writing was excellent in the more interior passages as well as in the descriptions of the land but rather less successful as the action ramped up. I also reached a point in the last handful of pages where the phrase To dare is to do accompanied by the slap slap slap of oars on water was employed more often than seemed advisable for reader sanity.
This is a case of admiration for degree of difficulty and scope but ultimately Storyland does not feel like a novel that will stick with me over the long haul.
I had my eye on this novel ever since Jennifer Byrne made it sound intriguingly like an Australian Cloud Atlas on the now sadly defunct Book Show . It has also recently made the 2018 Miles Franklin shortlist.
I enjoyed this one, for the most part, as a nice Australian historical novel based in the Lake Illawarra region of NSW and spanning time from 1796 until 2717. It is ambitious in scope but in my mind it did suffer a little by mirroring the "nested Russian dolls" structure of Cloud Atlas, as that is really the only similarity the two books share. However, McKinnon does have fun with this setup and I think it worked well for what she was trying to achieve.
It is inevitable in this type of multi-narrative setup that some stories appealed more than others. I enjoyed and wanted more from the exploratory seafaring tale voiced by Will and I would have happily read an entire novel based in the dystopian future section. I did feel aggrieved that none of the stories we started out on concluded particularly satisfactorily and the connection between them often required some rigorous attention to detail to unlock.
The writing was excellent in the more interior passages as well as in the descriptions of the land but rather less successful as the action ramped up. I also reached a point in the last handful of pages where the phrase To dare is to do accompanied by the slap slap slap of oars on water was employed more often than seemed advisable for reader sanity.
This is a case of admiration for degree of difficulty and scope but ultimately Storyland does not feel like a novel that will stick with me over the long haul.
April 27, 2017
“’See that lake there,’ Uncle Ray says, looking along the side of his house to the water. ‘That was here before any of us, and that creek that runs down from the mountain to the lake, that was here too, and the mountain, and the trees, and the birds. We’re part of their story, not the other way around’”
Storyland is the second novel by Australian teacher, playwright, theatre director and author, Catherine McKinnon. A cabin boy, an ex-convict, a dairy farmer, a young schoolgirl and a middle-aged woman are the narrators that McKinnon uses to tell a tale that spans centuries.
Will Martin is the fifteen-year-old cabin boy who accompanies Bass and Flinders in the Tom Thumb in 1796 on a trip south to find a river for the Governor. They unintentionally end up near Hat Hill, in desperate need of fresh water but are wary of the natives they encounter.
Will has earlier learned bits of their language and the Southern sky: “Now I gaze up at the stars and moon every night and, moreover, speak the in two languages, where once I did not give thought to them at all. Now I know how big the world is. Before, not knowing the world’s bigness meant that tomorrow looked like yesterday. Yet knowing makes it harder to spy ahead, as now I see tomorrow as unmade and know it will always be so”
Tending cornfields and fending off the natives on the shores of this godforsaken lake with only a lazy skulker to help is not what ex-convict Hawker wants to be doing in the harvest time of 1822. Trying to impress the landowner’s overseer in the hope of a transfer to the cooler climes and better conditions of Appin, he perpetrates a shocking act of violence.
In 1900, Lola McBride runs a herd of 21 Illawarra Red Shorthorn cattle with her half-sister Mary and her half-brother, Abe, right by Mullet Creek at the edge of the Five Islands Estate. They are surprised to encounter a derogatory attitude from a neighbour, and when his daughter disappears, is quick to lay blame.
Ten-year-old Bel is glad to relieve the boredom of the 1997-8 Christmas Holidays rafting along the shores of Lake Illawarra with new-found friends, Isha and Tarak. Her dad says it’s OK as long as they stick to the rules they’ve agreed on. But when they meet Kristie in their special place, some of those rules go out the window.
In 2033, Cyclone Frank has caused more devastation than any earlier storm Nada has ever experienced, and now Ben is sick. She decides to leave their cottage on the slopes of Mount Kembla to get the medication he needs, but the world she finds below is unrecognisable, in more ways than one.
The format of this book will be familiar to readers of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas: each narrative nestled within an earlier one. They stop mid-sentence, but segue smoothly into the next facilitated by pelicans, owls, eagles and whipbirds. Connection to place is a common theme, but these disparate stories are also connected by people, objects, landmarks, vegetation and blood ties.
McKinnon uses her tale to explore interactions between indigenous and whites, and how cruelty, ignorance and racist attitudes changed with time. She also touches on ownership of artefacts and sacred sites, and climate change and rising oceans. Her descriptive prose is gorgeous, and her extensive research is apparent in every paragraph. Readers familiar with the area will doubtless be trying to identify the locations of each narrative. All this is contained inside a wonderfully evocative cover. A superlative read.
Storyland is the second novel by Australian teacher, playwright, theatre director and author, Catherine McKinnon. A cabin boy, an ex-convict, a dairy farmer, a young schoolgirl and a middle-aged woman are the narrators that McKinnon uses to tell a tale that spans centuries.
Will Martin is the fifteen-year-old cabin boy who accompanies Bass and Flinders in the Tom Thumb in 1796 on a trip south to find a river for the Governor. They unintentionally end up near Hat Hill, in desperate need of fresh water but are wary of the natives they encounter.
Will has earlier learned bits of their language and the Southern sky: “Now I gaze up at the stars and moon every night and, moreover, speak the in two languages, where once I did not give thought to them at all. Now I know how big the world is. Before, not knowing the world’s bigness meant that tomorrow looked like yesterday. Yet knowing makes it harder to spy ahead, as now I see tomorrow as unmade and know it will always be so”
Tending cornfields and fending off the natives on the shores of this godforsaken lake with only a lazy skulker to help is not what ex-convict Hawker wants to be doing in the harvest time of 1822. Trying to impress the landowner’s overseer in the hope of a transfer to the cooler climes and better conditions of Appin, he perpetrates a shocking act of violence.
In 1900, Lola McBride runs a herd of 21 Illawarra Red Shorthorn cattle with her half-sister Mary and her half-brother, Abe, right by Mullet Creek at the edge of the Five Islands Estate. They are surprised to encounter a derogatory attitude from a neighbour, and when his daughter disappears, is quick to lay blame.
Ten-year-old Bel is glad to relieve the boredom of the 1997-8 Christmas Holidays rafting along the shores of Lake Illawarra with new-found friends, Isha and Tarak. Her dad says it’s OK as long as they stick to the rules they’ve agreed on. But when they meet Kristie in their special place, some of those rules go out the window.
In 2033, Cyclone Frank has caused more devastation than any earlier storm Nada has ever experienced, and now Ben is sick. She decides to leave their cottage on the slopes of Mount Kembla to get the medication he needs, but the world she finds below is unrecognisable, in more ways than one.
The format of this book will be familiar to readers of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas: each narrative nestled within an earlier one. They stop mid-sentence, but segue smoothly into the next facilitated by pelicans, owls, eagles and whipbirds. Connection to place is a common theme, but these disparate stories are also connected by people, objects, landmarks, vegetation and blood ties.
McKinnon uses her tale to explore interactions between indigenous and whites, and how cruelty, ignorance and racist attitudes changed with time. She also touches on ownership of artefacts and sacred sites, and climate change and rising oceans. Her descriptive prose is gorgeous, and her extensive research is apparent in every paragraph. Readers familiar with the area will doubtless be trying to identify the locations of each narrative. All this is contained inside a wonderfully evocative cover. A superlative read.
December 17, 2018
3.5 Stars
Told through five interlinking but distinctive narratives, and set around Australia’s Lake Illawarra over the course of four centuries, Storyland is a beautifully written novel which explores themes of family, loyalty, and the limits of human endurance, with an overarching exploration of our connection to the land on which we live and die.
I enjoyed the narrative format, which was slightly reminiscent in style to that of David Mitchell’s sci-fi epic Cloud Altas.
The historical segments were richly detailed and vivid to the imagination, and although it was clear that a lot of time and research went into doing justice to the various (semi-fictional) characters and the time periods documented within, unfortunately, I found my attention waning on more than one occasion due to boredom. One thing was clear though – I was far more captivated by the events of the second half of each characters story than the first.
Undoubtedly, my favourite segment of Storyland was the dystopian story following Nada and her family as they struggled to survive during a catastrophic event that was essentially the end of the world as we know it – scarily only set in the near-future of 2033 (eek!). This part of the story was completely riveting and I could have easily read a full novel on these events alone.
Overall, Storyland is a quality written Aussie book, but one which I was perhaps not as captivated by as expected.
Told through five interlinking but distinctive narratives, and set around Australia’s Lake Illawarra over the course of four centuries, Storyland is a beautifully written novel which explores themes of family, loyalty, and the limits of human endurance, with an overarching exploration of our connection to the land on which we live and die.
I enjoyed the narrative format, which was slightly reminiscent in style to that of David Mitchell’s sci-fi epic Cloud Altas.
The historical segments were richly detailed and vivid to the imagination, and although it was clear that a lot of time and research went into doing justice to the various (semi-fictional) characters and the time periods documented within, unfortunately, I found my attention waning on more than one occasion due to boredom. One thing was clear though – I was far more captivated by the events of the second half of each characters story than the first.
Undoubtedly, my favourite segment of Storyland was the dystopian story following Nada and her family as they struggled to survive during a catastrophic event that was essentially the end of the world as we know it – scarily only set in the near-future of 2033 (eek!). This part of the story was completely riveting and I could have easily read a full novel on these events alone.
Overall, Storyland is a quality written Aussie book, but one which I was perhaps not as captivated by as expected.
October 10, 2018
The author has taken an interesting construct for this book that loosely links five characters and specific events in their lifetime. 1796, Will Martin is a young cabin boy who accompanies Bass & Flinders on their early exploration of the Illawarra. 1822, Hawker is alcoholic convict overseeing a remote farm who is involved in a brutal murder. 1900, Lola is running a small dairy when a neighbour is found dead. 1998, Bel is a young girl who befriends a young woman involved with a violent partner and trading in Aboriginal art. 2033, Nada survives a massive hurricane which inundates the land and roving bands of survivors are murdering each other.
The stories are linked by the area, birds, Aboriginal history, relationships. Four are based on real events. One is speculative fiction.
It's a creative book, each character has their own voice. Did it work? In patches.
The stories are linked by the area, birds, Aboriginal history, relationships. Four are based on real events. One is speculative fiction.
It's a creative book, each character has their own voice. Did it work? In patches.
May 8, 2021
An amazing read , almost a wide cinematography of the past, present and future, and characters and characteristics you find around you and within you.
April 23, 2017
An interesting book with interlinked stories going forward through generations and then returning to the start. Well written with a great flow however I wished for more in the storylines - perhaps some resolution? - 3.5 stars
August 16, 2017
A intriguingly constructed book, with Illawarra and surrounds as the key character in a set of stories spanning hundreds of years. There's a lot of very impressive research underpinning the historical fiction sections of this and yet another climate change apocalypse section, which rang terrifying true. The flicking between stories mostly worked, with the connections and themes gradually becoming apparent. There were a few sections that I didn't really connect with, but on the whole this is a hugely impressive piece of work.
Read
November 3, 2017This is well worth a read. Such an interesting idea for structure. I savoured all the connections. Beautiful at times and so uniquely Australian. Check it out.
February 6, 2021
This was an unusual book, taking place in the same location around Lake Illawarra South of Woollongong in Australia over a period of nearly 300 years, including 60 years into the future.
Very well written and interesting, but also very uneven. Some of the segments worked better for me, mostly the more modern stories. The two older streams I found hard going, but the middle ones lifted the tempo and story.
I had no idea what to expect when I started, but by the end the journey was well worth it.
Very well written and interesting, but also very uneven. Some of the segments worked better for me, mostly the more modern stories. The two older streams I found hard going, but the middle ones lifted the tempo and story.
I had no idea what to expect when I started, but by the end the journey was well worth it.
June 7, 2017
‘The land is a book waiting to be read, learn to read it and you will never go hungry.’
This novel consists of five interlocking narratives: four set in the past, the fifth set in the future.
The narrative opens in 1796, with Will Martin, a young cabin boy, accompanying Matthew Flinders and George Bass as they travel south from Sydney Cove to the Illawarra in the tiny Tom Thumb. It’s an exploratory journey, which gets off to an inauspicious start when their drinking water is spoiled. The need to find fresh water drives them ashore. The second time they venture ashore, they meet two Indigenous men. But goodwill evaporates and the Europeans retreat.
And then the story moves to 1822, from Will Martin to Hawker. Hawker is a convict assigned to tilling fields, desperate to be somewhere else, brutal, opportunistic and self-serving. I recognise the land, from the description in Will Martin’s story. Europeans are settling it; Indigenous people are being dispossessed. I don’t want to dwell on Hawker’s story and am happy when the narrative moves on.
In 1900, Lola McBride, her brother Abe and sister Mary run a dairy farm on the Illawarra. They come under suspicion when a girl goes missing. There’s more than one tragedy about to play out here.
‘One group names the town for the land that is strong and solid behind it, the other names it for the water that lies before it or above it.’
In 1998, we meet Bel and her friends. This is multicultural Australia, a diversity of opinion and acceptance providing a stark contrast to 1822 and 1900. But there’s violence as well, and connections to the past. Reminders of people who came before.
‘The earth is a body breathing.’
Jump forward to the future, where in 2033 Nada’s world starts to fall apart. This is cleverly done, uncomfortable to read, and has its own links to the past. Items are found, items which readers will remember from earlier stories, items now entirely separate from earlier connections. The focus in Nada’s story is on survival, in a land which has changed.
So, what does the future hold? How has the past and the environment shaped us? How do we fit into the present? I found this an enjoyable (mostly) and challenging novel to read. I admired the way in which Ms McKinnon deftly used a sentence (involving the flight of birds) to shift from one character to the next. This continuity in the natural environment both frames and connects the individual stories.
This is one of the most interesting and thought-provoking novels I have read.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This novel consists of five interlocking narratives: four set in the past, the fifth set in the future.
The narrative opens in 1796, with Will Martin, a young cabin boy, accompanying Matthew Flinders and George Bass as they travel south from Sydney Cove to the Illawarra in the tiny Tom Thumb. It’s an exploratory journey, which gets off to an inauspicious start when their drinking water is spoiled. The need to find fresh water drives them ashore. The second time they venture ashore, they meet two Indigenous men. But goodwill evaporates and the Europeans retreat.
And then the story moves to 1822, from Will Martin to Hawker. Hawker is a convict assigned to tilling fields, desperate to be somewhere else, brutal, opportunistic and self-serving. I recognise the land, from the description in Will Martin’s story. Europeans are settling it; Indigenous people are being dispossessed. I don’t want to dwell on Hawker’s story and am happy when the narrative moves on.
In 1900, Lola McBride, her brother Abe and sister Mary run a dairy farm on the Illawarra. They come under suspicion when a girl goes missing. There’s more than one tragedy about to play out here.
‘One group names the town for the land that is strong and solid behind it, the other names it for the water that lies before it or above it.’
In 1998, we meet Bel and her friends. This is multicultural Australia, a diversity of opinion and acceptance providing a stark contrast to 1822 and 1900. But there’s violence as well, and connections to the past. Reminders of people who came before.
‘The earth is a body breathing.’
Jump forward to the future, where in 2033 Nada’s world starts to fall apart. This is cleverly done, uncomfortable to read, and has its own links to the past. Items are found, items which readers will remember from earlier stories, items now entirely separate from earlier connections. The focus in Nada’s story is on survival, in a land which has changed.
So, what does the future hold? How has the past and the environment shaped us? How do we fit into the present? I found this an enjoyable (mostly) and challenging novel to read. I admired the way in which Ms McKinnon deftly used a sentence (involving the flight of birds) to shift from one character to the next. This continuity in the natural environment both frames and connects the individual stories.
This is one of the most interesting and thought-provoking novels I have read.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
March 13, 2022
A well written collection of nine short stories set in Australia in 1796, 1822, 1900, 1998 and 2033/2717. There are actually five separate story lines.
‘Will Martin 1796’ tells the story of young Will Martin’s adventures with Lieutenant Matthew Flinders and Mr Bass in the small boat, the Tom Thumb. They encounter aborigines when in search of water.
‘Hawker 1822’ is about young men learning to survive in the Australian wilderness, protecting their corn crop from being stolen by aborigines.
In ‘Lola 1900’, an aboriginal family running a dairy farm find the going difficult when a young white woman is murdered and the white neighbour accuses an aborigine of the murder.
‘Bell 1998’ tells the story of young teenagers meeting an aboriginal woman who has been badly beaten by her boyfriend.
‘Nada 2033 & 2717’ is a dystopian story about a bleak world where food is scarce and people live in a controlled safe environment. Their minds are manipulated.
I enjoyed all the stories. I particularly liked the dystopian story.
This book was shortlisted for the 2018 Miles Franklin award.
‘Will Martin 1796’ tells the story of young Will Martin’s adventures with Lieutenant Matthew Flinders and Mr Bass in the small boat, the Tom Thumb. They encounter aborigines when in search of water.
‘Hawker 1822’ is about young men learning to survive in the Australian wilderness, protecting their corn crop from being stolen by aborigines.
In ‘Lola 1900’, an aboriginal family running a dairy farm find the going difficult when a young white woman is murdered and the white neighbour accuses an aborigine of the murder.
‘Bell 1998’ tells the story of young teenagers meeting an aboriginal woman who has been badly beaten by her boyfriend.
‘Nada 2033 & 2717’ is a dystopian story about a bleak world where food is scarce and people live in a controlled safe environment. Their minds are manipulated.
I enjoyed all the stories. I particularly liked the dystopian story.
This book was shortlisted for the 2018 Miles Franklin award.
May 5, 2019
McKinnon has pulled off an unusual structure to create a story of time and place that like all good books asks many questions. How do our decisions impact on place, people and the future? These decisions are not always based on obvious choices at the time and are reflective of the time in which they were made and the cultural and personal connection to a place of the people making them. The way the stories/chapters were linked was a thoughtful nod to the people animals and environment that have been most impacted by those who have passed through this place.
October 11, 2017
I wasn't convinced about the 'triangle' structure of Storyland in the first half, but then it succeeded, bringing together the story of place more so than the people in it. Could even have done with more - each narrative was worthy of its own full length work.
August 19, 2017
Storyland by Catherine McKinnon
The Land is a book waiting to be read.
An amazing book.
‘This land is a forever land, the clock ticks to a different time.’
I found this book fascinating: its innovative structure doesn’t compromise the story it tells. There are five stories in different generations even the future, but set in the same place. The stories seamlessly slip into the next, 'ending' on a half sentence which is finished by the beginning of the next. This technical detail helps to show the timelessness of our land and how our stories are interwoven. In the second half of the book we hear the conclusion of each of the stories. When reading this book I truly got the sense that our land is one story and can be ‘read’. It was captivating. Not only because it is written extremely well (even the child characters are portrayed with skill) but the structure and central premise made it so interesting that it became compulsive. A great prose work to read as part of degree level creative writing study.
The Land is a book waiting to be read.
An amazing book.
‘This land is a forever land, the clock ticks to a different time.’
I found this book fascinating: its innovative structure doesn’t compromise the story it tells. There are five stories in different generations even the future, but set in the same place. The stories seamlessly slip into the next, 'ending' on a half sentence which is finished by the beginning of the next. This technical detail helps to show the timelessness of our land and how our stories are interwoven. In the second half of the book we hear the conclusion of each of the stories. When reading this book I truly got the sense that our land is one story and can be ‘read’. It was captivating. Not only because it is written extremely well (even the child characters are portrayed with skill) but the structure and central premise made it so interesting that it became compulsive. A great prose work to read as part of degree level creative writing study.
April 25, 2017
I attended the book launch for Storyland and left feeling very excited to read this and in fact started it the next day. A short description of this book is that effectively it is Cloud Atlas but set in Australia. Set along the Illawarra across four centuries we meet five very different characters and learn their stories of living on the land.
Much like Mitchell's Cloud Atlas we meet the five characters, each living in a different time point from the past to the present to the future. These stories are all, however, set in the same region, along Lake Illawarra which is south of Sydney in New South Wales. Each of the characters are linked in some way, whether it be by the land, or blood or history. I loved McKinnon's transitions from character to character. They were seamless and smooth.
Each of the characters were very unique, some likeable and some were not. My favourites were Lola, an unsurprising common favourite. She was a strong, independent woman trying to do fight by her family in a harsh time that was made harsher if you were a woman without a husband. Bel was another favourite but completely different. She is a child and her perspective it described in the innocent way that only children can. She is an unusual soul and the way her mind works is unique and fascinating. I really enjoyed McKinnon's glimpses into the future, they seem all too possible which is a terrifying thought.
An added bonus in this story is that many of the past stories have some basis in truth. Will's story is based on an expedition with Flinders and Bass and was written after consultation with Flinder's diaries for accuracy but from the perspective of their servant boy, Willian Martin. The character of Hawker is based on a true event where an Aboriginal woman was shot and mauled for stealing corn, an all too common story in those days that is no less horrific. In Bel's story an ancient skeleton was dislodged in a storm, another even that occurred in the 90's in this area. These fictional stories steeped in truth and accuracy lend this novel a little something more, lend it more reliability and impact on the reader.
The experience of reading this book was supplemented by the good fortune of having just listened to Girt by David Hunt as an audiobook in the days prior. I, therefore, understood the references to Bass and Flinders, Bennelong and Macquarie giving it a little something extra. It certainly adds to the enjoyment if you are familiar with Australian history but won't make the novel any less enjoyable if you aren't. If you are not overly familiar with Australian history, particularly if you are Australian yourself, I do recommend David Hunt's unofficial Australian histories in Girt and True Girt (next up on my audiobook list). His books are a comical, yet accurate explanation of Australia's history, which I found fascinating. We don't learn a lot about our own (accurate) history at school and I found this a fascinating experience. Our history is at times so ridiculous that it sounds like fiction.
The only slight let down for me was that the ending seemed slightly anti-climactic but in a way it suits the style of the book and finishes of the tale nicely. I would highly recommend picking this book up. I have no doubt that Storyland will eventually become an Aussie classic, a tale of life in Australia and how we are all interconnected. I give Storyland four lyrebirds.
Much like Mitchell's Cloud Atlas we meet the five characters, each living in a different time point from the past to the present to the future. These stories are all, however, set in the same region, along Lake Illawarra which is south of Sydney in New South Wales. Each of the characters are linked in some way, whether it be by the land, or blood or history. I loved McKinnon's transitions from character to character. They were seamless and smooth.
Each of the characters were very unique, some likeable and some were not. My favourites were Lola, an unsurprising common favourite. She was a strong, independent woman trying to do fight by her family in a harsh time that was made harsher if you were a woman without a husband. Bel was another favourite but completely different. She is a child and her perspective it described in the innocent way that only children can. She is an unusual soul and the way her mind works is unique and fascinating. I really enjoyed McKinnon's glimpses into the future, they seem all too possible which is a terrifying thought.
An added bonus in this story is that many of the past stories have some basis in truth. Will's story is based on an expedition with Flinders and Bass and was written after consultation with Flinder's diaries for accuracy but from the perspective of their servant boy, Willian Martin. The character of Hawker is based on a true event where an Aboriginal woman was shot and mauled for stealing corn, an all too common story in those days that is no less horrific. In Bel's story an ancient skeleton was dislodged in a storm, another even that occurred in the 90's in this area. These fictional stories steeped in truth and accuracy lend this novel a little something more, lend it more reliability and impact on the reader.
The experience of reading this book was supplemented by the good fortune of having just listened to Girt by David Hunt as an audiobook in the days prior. I, therefore, understood the references to Bass and Flinders, Bennelong and Macquarie giving it a little something extra. It certainly adds to the enjoyment if you are familiar with Australian history but won't make the novel any less enjoyable if you aren't. If you are not overly familiar with Australian history, particularly if you are Australian yourself, I do recommend David Hunt's unofficial Australian histories in Girt and True Girt (next up on my audiobook list). His books are a comical, yet accurate explanation of Australia's history, which I found fascinating. We don't learn a lot about our own (accurate) history at school and I found this a fascinating experience. Our history is at times so ridiculous that it sounds like fiction.
The only slight let down for me was that the ending seemed slightly anti-climactic but in a way it suits the style of the book and finishes of the tale nicely. I would highly recommend picking this book up. I have no doubt that Storyland will eventually become an Aussie classic, a tale of life in Australia and how we are all interconnected. I give Storyland four lyrebirds.
August 14, 2017
It is rare to encounter a book that introduces a new structural concept, or a literary device that feels fresh; unusual, too, to find a story that transcends the generations. Catherine McKinnon’s sweeping saga Storyland (Fourth Estate HarperCollins Books Australia 2017) does all of this and more. McKinnon says she writes best from a sense of place, and that is certainly the case with Storyland. Set on the land around Lake Illawarra, the narrative tells the stories of five different people, from different times, with the common feature that they are all played out on the same bit of Australia. Not only does this act like a kind of weird time machine for the reader, pulling us backwards and forwards through four centuries, but it gives us detailed accounts in five very different periods, comparing and contrasting the characters’ associations – both in the past and in the future – with the same piece of land.
In 1796 we meet Will Martin, a boy on a voyage of discovery with Matthew Flinders and George Bass. In 1822 we encounter an unsavoury ex-convict, Hawker, and in 1900 it is Lola, running a dairy farm and under suspicion when a crime is committed. Fast forward to 1998 and we meet Bel, a child at risk through her adventures, and in 2033 Nada witnesses the post-apocalyptic world after flood, famine, disease and conflict. We then return backwards, from Nada to Bel, and from Lola to Hawker, before finishing where we started, with Will. The author uses animals and birds to link each section with the next, with the unsettling feeling that going from one generation to another is as simple as turning a page.
The characterisation is very strong and the separate plot-lines are engaging and authentic.
My one criticism for this book is that because it is in essence really a series of five linked novellas, rather than one continuous narrative, each feels a little truncated. I wanted more of each story – I just started to get invested in one set of characters and then we were on to the next. But I think this is probably done deliberately to demonstrate the permanence of the land beneath our feet as opposed to the frailty of the humans occupying it. Each of the main characters, for example, notices at various times the same piece of fish-shaped rock – an unmoving part of the geography of the landscape, seen through the prisms of very different experiences. This interconnectedness of the stories also serves to show how there is never really a beginning and an end to a story, but that the story of life in that particular place keeps marching inexorably forward, with new players and new circumstances, but the same basic topography and landmarks. These stories do not end neatly, rather they are open-ended (as, of course, is life).
While the characters are joined by the land and water they inhabit, there are also other points of connection – history, memories, or specific items that get a mention throughout all the stories – that echo again the permanence of land and property against the constantly changing and renewing human population.
Storyland is an epic tale of Australian history told through the detailed accounts of five individuals, giving us a powerful and memorable glimpse of our country through the ages, with particular insight into our indigenous heritage.
In 1796 we meet Will Martin, a boy on a voyage of discovery with Matthew Flinders and George Bass. In 1822 we encounter an unsavoury ex-convict, Hawker, and in 1900 it is Lola, running a dairy farm and under suspicion when a crime is committed. Fast forward to 1998 and we meet Bel, a child at risk through her adventures, and in 2033 Nada witnesses the post-apocalyptic world after flood, famine, disease and conflict. We then return backwards, from Nada to Bel, and from Lola to Hawker, before finishing where we started, with Will. The author uses animals and birds to link each section with the next, with the unsettling feeling that going from one generation to another is as simple as turning a page.
The characterisation is very strong and the separate plot-lines are engaging and authentic.
My one criticism for this book is that because it is in essence really a series of five linked novellas, rather than one continuous narrative, each feels a little truncated. I wanted more of each story – I just started to get invested in one set of characters and then we were on to the next. But I think this is probably done deliberately to demonstrate the permanence of the land beneath our feet as opposed to the frailty of the humans occupying it. Each of the main characters, for example, notices at various times the same piece of fish-shaped rock – an unmoving part of the geography of the landscape, seen through the prisms of very different experiences. This interconnectedness of the stories also serves to show how there is never really a beginning and an end to a story, but that the story of life in that particular place keeps marching inexorably forward, with new players and new circumstances, but the same basic topography and landmarks. These stories do not end neatly, rather they are open-ended (as, of course, is life).
While the characters are joined by the land and water they inhabit, there are also other points of connection – history, memories, or specific items that get a mention throughout all the stories – that echo again the permanence of land and property against the constantly changing and renewing human population.
Storyland is an epic tale of Australian history told through the detailed accounts of five individuals, giving us a powerful and memorable glimpse of our country through the ages, with particular insight into our indigenous heritage.
June 21, 2017
I love the ways that this story is woven together through characters and objects. Not being a massive fan of short stories, it took me a bit to settle into each chapter, but once I got to know the new character and time, I was totally enthralled. Catherine McKinnon has captured several really unique voices each of which I was fascinated by. That being said, I could have read a whole novel about Lola.
May 28, 2024
A story of a place in five different time points.
I felt great sadness reading the book as it conveys the end of the pre colonial life of the traditional owners and the end of this civilisation due to climate change. And there's a violence to the stories.
But there's also plenty of suspense and the interconnecting stories are an excellent structure, fascinating to read.
I felt great sadness reading the book as it conveys the end of the pre colonial life of the traditional owners and the end of this civilisation due to climate change. And there's a violence to the stories.
But there's also plenty of suspense and the interconnecting stories are an excellent structure, fascinating to read.
December 23, 2018
So here I am, running out of time to finish off my 2018 reviews, and still no idea what I think about this book. Everything I can think of to write is wrong. "It's five stories", for example, only it isn't really, it is one story, set across time and people with their own specific concerns. None of the five episodes feels complete, they exist as little vignettes that you dip into but never find out what happens to our protagonists (well, okay, except the first/last instalment, in which the characters are historical personages (Bass and Flinders and the lesser known Will) and the plot closely follows a historical account).
There is overarching themes here, engagement with environment, racism, interpersonal violence, sexism, but each story also looks at a particular slice of Australian life as well in an at times "special of the week" kind of way. The characters are related to each other, but not in a linear way. The lack of resolution to some of the stories left me uneasy, as if stories this pointed shouldn't be left in ambiguity in the end. On the other hand, that ambiguity avoids anything simple, makes the reader think and engage.
The writing is evocative, and the various stories also explore different ways humans have relationships with our environment. The wonder of unsupervised children in their own private playground; the coming of age of a boyman falling for a new country; the antagonistic relationship of an imprisoned labourer with no sense of belonging of self control; the pride of a settler making a home through coaxing the land; and the joy and horror of living in a much loved middle class bush home under threat.
In the middle of the book, is a united section of story which is terrifying and terrible. The structure never fully resolved that for me, making the ambiguity almost frightening as we count our way back to Will and Bass and Flinders. The effect feels deliberate and powerful.The book has stayed with me, but mostly as a sense of unclear unease. It's good, without question, but I feel like it was winking at me and I don't know why.
There is overarching themes here, engagement with environment, racism, interpersonal violence, sexism, but each story also looks at a particular slice of Australian life as well in an at times "special of the week" kind of way. The characters are related to each other, but not in a linear way. The lack of resolution to some of the stories left me uneasy, as if stories this pointed shouldn't be left in ambiguity in the end. On the other hand, that ambiguity avoids anything simple, makes the reader think and engage.
The writing is evocative, and the various stories also explore different ways humans have relationships with our environment. The wonder of unsupervised children in their own private playground; the coming of age of a boyman falling for a new country; the antagonistic relationship of an imprisoned labourer with no sense of belonging of self control; the pride of a settler making a home through coaxing the land; and the joy and horror of living in a much loved middle class bush home under threat.
In the middle of the book, is a united section of story which is terrifying and terrible. The structure never fully resolved that for me, making the ambiguity almost frightening as we count our way back to Will and Bass and Flinders. The effect feels deliberate and powerful.The book has stayed with me, but mostly as a sense of unclear unease. It's good, without question, but I feel like it was winking at me and I don't know why.
April 18, 2017
This book was a bit of a sleeper for me in that before I knew it, I was carried away. It's not an uplifting book, nor is it a feel good book. But it makes you wonder about how your actions can resonate throughout generations in ways you could never have imagined, and whether what we bequeath future generations is more than an inheritance and hope for a better life, but also our fears and unresolved conflicts. It also made me think whether places and the things within those places that we consider inanimate, have memories that are ingrained within just as they are within the people who lived in those places.
The setting of the colonisation/invasion of Australia and how the traditional owners and the settlers navigated this is a rich setting for this. The story shows the harmonious enmeshing that inevitably occurs, but also the conflicts that result and the damage they can do.
The hardest part of the book to read was the passage set in the future. This was largely because I didn't quite understand the narrative that McKinnon utilised at first. But once I got it, it was compelling.
I also enjoyed the device she employed in moving from one passage to the next. They were in effect literary wormholes that allowed you to travel from one time to the next. I felt McKinnon was hinting that time isn't linear, but it wraps around on itself, with all the pain, joy, fear and stories we tell along with it, and bumps up against other times and places.
If someone was to ask me "did you enjoy the book?", I couldn't say yes emphatically, but I most certainly wouldn't say no. I would say that I am very glad I read the book and I will experience a post-reading haunting for quite a while yet.
The setting of the colonisation/invasion of Australia and how the traditional owners and the settlers navigated this is a rich setting for this. The story shows the harmonious enmeshing that inevitably occurs, but also the conflicts that result and the damage they can do.
The hardest part of the book to read was the passage set in the future. This was largely because I didn't quite understand the narrative that McKinnon utilised at first. But once I got it, it was compelling.
I also enjoyed the device she employed in moving from one passage to the next. They were in effect literary wormholes that allowed you to travel from one time to the next. I felt McKinnon was hinting that time isn't linear, but it wraps around on itself, with all the pain, joy, fear and stories we tell along with it, and bumps up against other times and places.
If someone was to ask me "did you enjoy the book?", I couldn't say yes emphatically, but I most certainly wouldn't say no. I would say that I am very glad I read the book and I will experience a post-reading haunting for quite a while yet.
May 8, 2017
In the blurb at Goodreads, Catherine McKinnon’s Storyland is described as an unfurling narrative of interlinking stories, in a style reminiscent of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, and so it is, but I would call it ‘Cloud Atlas Lite’ though not in any disparaging sense. Cloud Atlas was a challenging book, and not just because of its innovative structure. Shaped by its split narratives without chapter titles or numbering the 500+page book demanded intense concentration and a good memory: it’s one of my rare 5-star novels but it was definitely not an easy read.
Storyland, while sharing the same split narrative structure, is not in the same demanding league. The five narratives stretch through time in a way that immediately makes sense to us here in Australia, and the narrators are named as well, with a table of contents to convey the blueprint too.
Will Martin 1796
Hawker 1822
Lola 1900
Bel 1998
Nada 2033 and 2717 (huh? The same person? How can this be?) –
The conclusions of these narratives then travel back in time i.e. in reverse order, starting with Bel’s and finishing with Will Martin’s. Rightly so, the pre-settlement Aboriginal presence is woven through all the narratives, which are connected by an ancient artefact and through the land on which events take place, the Illawarra in NSW.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/05/08/s...
Storyland, while sharing the same split narrative structure, is not in the same demanding league. The five narratives stretch through time in a way that immediately makes sense to us here in Australia, and the narrators are named as well, with a table of contents to convey the blueprint too.
Will Martin 1796
Hawker 1822
Lola 1900
Bel 1998
Nada 2033 and 2717 (huh? The same person? How can this be?) –
The conclusions of these narratives then travel back in time i.e. in reverse order, starting with Bel’s and finishing with Will Martin’s. Rightly so, the pre-settlement Aboriginal presence is woven through all the narratives, which are connected by an ancient artefact and through the land on which events take place, the Illawarra in NSW.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/05/08/s...
March 30, 2017
Storyland is a hard book for me to rate; in the end, I have settled on three stars. I enjoyed the five narratives and their characters, but I didn't love them. I wasn't on the edge of my seat turning the pages; although, neither was it a slog. It was simply a middle-of-the-road read for me: enjoyable but not breathtaking. I think part of the problem is the use of the same narrative style as Cloud Atlas. In that work, it was bold, new and, therefore, a huge selling point. However, now it's been done, some of the shine has worn off. All that structure really accomplished in this case was to make me constantly compare this work to Cloud Atlas, and Storyland just doesn't have the same scope or captivating brilliance of Mitchell's earlier book.
That said, this is by no means a bad book, and I would highly recommend it to people who enjoyed Cloud Atlas and are looking for something else similar, and to those interested in historical fiction in an Australian setting. It's a pleasant read; it simply didn't blow me away as I'd hoped it would.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley.
That said, this is by no means a bad book, and I would highly recommend it to people who enjoyed Cloud Atlas and are looking for something else similar, and to those interested in historical fiction in an Australian setting. It's a pleasant read; it simply didn't blow me away as I'd hoped it would.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley.
February 11, 2020
This is so cleverly written. Historical fiction that travels across five time periods and into the future. The five stories are tragic, each in their own ways. Linked by Lake Illawarra and a stone axe passed through aboriginal descendents across the centuries. The horrors of first contact, murder, racism, domestic violence and the rising seas of climate change. Cleverest of all is that title, as circular as the stories themselves. And an ancient fig tree growing above and below the Storyland. Well deserving of a nomination for the Miles Franklin Award 2018.
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