Rain Birds

by Harriet McKnight

Alan and Pina have lived contentedly in isolated – and insular – Boney Point for thirty years. Now they are dealing with Alan’s devastating early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis. As he is cast adrift in the depths of his own mind, Pina is left to face the consequences alone, until the arrival of a flock of black cockatoos seems to tie him, somehow, to the present.

Nearby, conservation biologist Arianna Brandt is involved in a project trying to reintroduce the threatened glossy black cockatoos into the wilds of Murrungowar National Park. Alone in the haunted bush, and with her birds failing to thrive, Arianna’s personal demons start to overwhelm her and risk undoing everything.

At first, when the two women’s paths cross, they appear at loggerheads but – in many ways – they are invested in the same outcome but for different reasons.

Ultimately, unexpected events will force them both to let go of their pasts and focus on the future.

Rain Birds is a powerful and lyrical novel about love, grief and loss, one that examines personal tragedy as set against global and environmental responsibilities, and how we negotiate our often-conflicting ideals.

‘With a delicate yet decisive hand, Harriet McKnight deftly weaves the stories of two forthright women searching for moments of stillness in an ever-changing world. Intelligent and absorbing, Rain Birds eschews sentiment in favour of clear-eyed empathy for its characters.’ –Melanie Joosten

‘Heartbreaking and real, grounded in a stunning natural environment. McKnight questions our responsibilities – to loved ones, and to places we love.’ —Inga Simpson

‘A poetic and powerful portrayal of how hard it is for humans to change – even while the world changes around us. Rain Birds is a moving meditation on the deeply intimate kinds of loss experienced within families, and the harrowing losses our entire planet is facing.’ —Ceridwen Dovey

‘ Rain Birds is the kind of novel you will feel keenly, and think about for weeks after you’ve finished reading. McKnight is a writer to watch.’ —Ellen Cregan, Readings Monthly

‘This twinned narrative about small, personal hurts and larger environmental disasters is a well balanced, complementary act.’ —Thuy On, The Australian

‘ Rain Birds is a riveting, smart work of fiction that will reverberate in your brain and your heart for a long while after you’ve finished the last page.’ —Jen Bowden, Westerly

Genres: Fiction, Birds, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Australia

197 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2017

About the author

Harriet McKnight’s work has been shortlisted for the 2014 Overland VU Short Story Prize, the 2015 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize, and the 2016 Overland Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize. She works as Managing Editor of The Canary Press.

Reviews

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is set in the area of Gippsland Victoria, right near a national park. For thirty years Pina and her husband Alan have relied on each other and keeping fairly much to themselves. When the story opens, the reader learns Alan has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. Pina is trying to cope with the changes this has brought. The text gives an accurate depiction of the damage this disease can cause, not just to the person who has it but their families. The other strand in this novel is that of Arianna, who with her fellow worker Tim, is involved in trying to re-introduce the glossy black cockatoos into Murrungowar National Park. Arianna had a difficult childhood and is left trying to deal with her own personal issues which make her pretty much anti-social and also affect her health. In time the paths of these two women cross.
This book is stark, raw and at times heartbreaking. Much of it is also beautifully written. This line when Pina ask Alan, ‘What’s going on?’ was evocative, ’The only sound in the space where his answer should have been was the wind.’ That is a small sample of the simple but effective way words are used to convey so much. Though in society we might like at times to deny it, this comment rang true to me, ’The trouble is, even though it’s well hidden, our society is fundamentally racist.’ That certainly comes out in the narrative. As does the conflict that arises between big business and the greenies.
The description of nature and landscape was particularly well done. I felt for both Pina and Alan in the dreadful situation they find themselves in. Arianna I had had more trouble connecting with. She seemed to have issues that weren’t fully explained. There is a fair bit of use of the f word throughout. There is also a mounting tension particularly towards the end. The characters of Pina and Alan are ones that stay with the reader. They come across as very real. This story doesn’t hold back from showing a harsh view of Alzheimer’s and its effects. Hard to read at times, and I admit to skipping one part about dead cockatoos, but a book well worth reading. An illuminating read and a great achievement for a debut novel. Loved the cover too.

[Rikki Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked this book, but I reckon it's more of a 3.5 star for me. Look, I read books with nature themes and references a lot because I read a lot of contemporary Australian fiction and it is a common occurrence, but that aspect is not my favourite part. I liked so many aspects of the story - the characters' pasts in particular, as well as the incorporation of indigenous land rights issues and domestic violence, but many of these threads didn't feel fulfilled or reconciled - which I get can be symbolic of the dementia theme but it left me feeling a bit flat at the end. Still totally worth a read but in between 3 and 4 stars for me!

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rain Birds tells two parallel stories that eventually intersect. The first story is of a married couple, Pina and Alan, as they live through the progression of the Alan's early onset Alzheimer's. The second story is one of animal conservation. A young woman heads a project to reintroduce Glossy Black Cockatoos in to the wild that have been reared in captivity in the hope of increasing their population. She has a dark past that is revealed as the book progresses, and the story ultimately intersects with Alan and Pina's story, as Pina clutches on to the idea that the Cockatoos somehow have meaning to Alan.

I found the depiction of Alzheimer's to be incredibly accurate, the story was well written, and the backdrop of rural Australia was richly atmospheric and a joy to read.

[Laurel · Rating 2 out of 5]

An excellent portrayal of dementia, and the journey Pima goes through in coming to terms with Alan's decompensation is excellently portrayed. The second plot, Arianna's is much less successfully developed. The two plots are so tangentially related, I felt them detracting from each other. The intersection of the natural world with Alan and Pima's personal world was excellent, but this might have been a stronger book had Arianna been dispensed with altogether.

[Odette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rain Birds is set in a rural community in Gippsland, adjacent to a national park. There are initially two story lines: Pina and Alan struggling with Alan's alzheimers condition; and Arianna and Tim, two researchers from the Australian National University who are monitoring the release of glossy black cockatoos into a natural environment.

I liked the descriptive and suspenseful style of writing and the memorable though somewhat damaged characters. The feeling of trepidation seems to build up as the story progresses like a storm. I thought the ending was very satisfying and as in life nothing is perfect.

I highly recommend this book and thank the author and Black Ink for this book which I won as a giveaway.

[Shes_a_book_geek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt like I was looking back at three years ago as I began reading this book, instead or Pina and Alan it was my mum and dad and I felt like author Harriet McKnight was telling their story. McKnight has put into words what I have been trying to, capturing those moments, days and hours that someone you love and have loved for so long becomes almost a stranger.

‘It’s me, Your wife.’

There were many heartbreaking moments in the book as Pina & Alan’s story was being told, both their journey the same but oddly different. One with memory and the ability to function as an adult, the other no longer himself – childlike, angry, aggressive, yet fragile.

Nearby, there is Arianna who is introducing the beautiful black cockatoos into the Murrungowar National Park. Being taken on a journey herself as she spirals into what can only be called chaos, as her obsession with the cockatoos masking, and eventually giving into things that have haunted her mind and being from time past.

Both journeys different but intertwining in an unexpected but somewhat fitting way, and while Pina and Arianna are not kindred spirits, the black cockatoos and Alan’s responsiveness see them invested in the same outcome.

McKnight has so beautifully capture the Victorian wilderness, you get a sense of being there – the smells, the open spaces, the trees dark at night. Being Australian, I understand very well the dry grass, the hot winds and the fierce summer sun that turns this story on its ends. As I turned each page I could smell that hazy smoke and my eyes almost watered thinking about it, knowing that what McKnight wrote was very real.

The character development was well done, Pina intrigued me somewhat but Alan remained a mystery to me which is what Alzheimer’s does to a person. I would love to have known him before Rain Birds because he seemed like a loveable and interesting person, with a little quirkiness on the side.
I did not see Arianna’s spiral downwards coming until the very last frantic moments, I kept thinking she would pick herself up, that she would understand that the cockatoos had chosen their new home because they were happy there. While we discover throughout that her insecurities come from elsewhere I felt early in the novel that she would be a stronger character and not one hiding hurt. You can tell the author had a clear vision from the outset and always knew Arianna.

The author has very realistically captured the subject of Alzheimer’s and dementia, the actions of Alan portrayed so accurately, his mannerisms, change in demeanor, a person lost. While the dementia part of the story did feature heavily I feel it was balanced well with Arianna, the cockatoos and some other sideline stories about a couple of the other townsfolk.

This is an outstanding piece of writing and I have been recommending it to people since I finished the last page. I appreciate so much our Australian authors bringing to us readers such good quality fiction, where our country is celebrated and stories resonate with us.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a goodreads giveaway.

Pina lives with her husband Alan out in the bush. Alan has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and is gradually getting worse. Pina is constantly being told that it might be better to put Alan in care but she is battling on, trying to keep him at home as long as possible. The only thing that gets him under control are the black cockatoos.

Near to Pina's property biologist Arianna is heading a program to release a threatened species of black cockatoos into the wild. This is part of a grant being funded by a local (and unpopular) mining company. Arianna is a control freak with some serious unresolved issues from her childhood. When the cockatoos fly out of the release zone and on to Pina's property, Arianna begins to unravel.

I liked this book but the ending was a bit odd. The story was good and it was an easy read. I also liked how fast paced this book was. It is an author I will definitely keep an eye on for the future.

[Andrew Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this delightful book in a goodreads giveaway. The manner in which multiple subjects are addressed in this book is so well done. The two main characters and their struggles are perfectly drawn, with the events in their lives and the impact these have on them well presented to make the reader sympathetic to what they are going through. Thou rough enjoyed this book.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea of what this story would be like when I started to read it, so I came to it with out any expectations, other than that the blurb on the back cover really intrigued me. And I was not disappointed. It was sad and touching reading about Pina and Alan's relationship before his diagnosis of Alzheimers, and then its unravelling after. Arianna's family history of domestic violence and its ongoing effect on her was another sad backdrop to the story.

It appears that both Pina and Arianna either were experiencing, or had experienced an unravelling of their most significant domestic relationships and they were searching for a way to make sense of it and weave it back into something coherent for themselves. In many ways, probably the most significant theme of this book is change and the limits of our agency in change. We don't always get to dictate which change occurs, nor its trajectory. The birds and the fire represent this, they had their own imperatives to follow. Wild things and wild events, as well as other people, don't always conform to our will. So the more we try to regain control, the more out of control things get, until we accept the path that we are on.

This was emblematic in not only Arianna's bird release program, but also Pina's determination that the birds must mean something. Both women appeared to be trying to sort the events into a form that made sense for them. Even the title 'Rain Birds', and the belief that black cockatoos bring rain (something I had heard spoken of before) is really us imposing our wishes on them.

Both women ultimately came to a better understanding of the path they were on. They both clearly had grieving to do, and I wouldn't say they got their happy endings. However, the resolution of their stories was realistic and poignant.

McKnight's writing about those witnessing loved ones with Alzheimers was spot on. And her depiction of the bush in the summer heat and just before a fire was very evocative. She captured the helplessness and the heroism of those in this sort of situation exceptionally well. Her writing was very well paced. While I wouldn't put it in the thriller genre, it still had quite a page-turning quality. I would say that it was one of those books where I start reading it and think, this is quite good, and then before I know it I realise that I am reading a very good book.

This is a wonderful story about change, how we deal with it and how we manage the consequences of trying to resist it.

[Clare Rhoden · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dementia sequence of this novel is absolutely brilliant, evocative and moving. I highly recommend it to anyone (and BTW that's most of us) who might come into contact with people suffering from this dreadful disease.
The second theme - of the university staff monitoring the release of cockatoos back into the wild - I found less successful. I don't know of any uni which would spare two full time staff to camp in the bush (wihtout so much as a composting toilet!) for four months (24 hours a day!) straight on such a project. No meetings to attend, no students to teach, no reports to write, no supervisors to pacify, no papers being written, no grad students to do the grunt work of data collection, no honours or masters or PhD or even undergrad papers to read and mark. I found that rather weird. Perhaps it happens - I know of uni staff visiting antarctica for weeks at a time - but I kept being interrupted by sneaking thoughts of 'how do they get to do this?', which rather interrupted the story's flow. On top of that, the poor woman was suffering horribly from a mental health disorder which was apparently undiagnosed, unrecognised, untreated in both work and social environments. Very sad.
That said, the confluence of birds, bushfire, and life-changing decisions was neatly rendered. I'll be looking for more of this author because I very much like the way she writes. If I'd never worked at a uni, I probably would have had no qualms at all.

[Vannessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the small village of Boney Point in Victoria's East Gippsland area, Pina is dealing with her husband Alan's early onset dementia, while Arianna is a scientist doing a bird release program in the area. This book's cover consisting of a painting created especially for the book first attracted me to it, but it was only when I read of the death of the young author, Harriet McKnight, that I decided to delve into the book. Morbid curiosity if you like. Her writing of the landscape, characters and plot is sharp, yet haunting. It's a tough read at times, and gut-wrenching as the main characters wrestle with their everyday tasks all the while haunted by the past. It's a novel about struggle, survival and resilience, be that of a community in remote East Gippsland, a flock of black cockatoos or two women grappling with the past and uncertain futures.

[Dee Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is set in the beautiful Australian bush. We follow Pina and Alan who have been married for several decades and are now struggling with Alan's battle with Alzheimers. We also follow Arianna and Tim who are reintroducing the close-to-extinction black glossy cockatoos into their natural habitat. On the background of these 2 arcs, we have the locals fighting against a large petroleum company who are setting up shop in their quiet, pristine environment. The characters were well fleshed out and most of them were flawed and trying to do better. The description of Alan's mood swings and personality change was what I feel was the best part of the book. However the saddest revelation for me was finding out that the author Harriet McKnight unfortunately died at a very young age after publishing this book. She was a very talented young lady and may she rest in peace.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

When do you let go and move on? Pina and Arianna are two different women, but both are experiencing loss. Alan, Pina's husband, dementia is progressingly getting worse, and Pina is still saying "It's me, I'm your wife". Arianna is damaged by her upbringing and isolates herself from others while trying to reintroduce black cockatoos into the the Murrungower National Park in Victoria. Both can't leave their loves. McKnight sets the story in Boney Point, East Gippsland Victoria, and her themes are thoroughly researched. Her descsriptions of the landscape, and personal decisions that torment Pina and Arianna are well presented. You will empathise with these characters.

[Merrilee Frankish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story set in Gippsland, Victoria where the effects of global warming and resource exploitation meet. Pina is caring for her husband who has early onset Alzheimers. She is reluctant to place him in residential care, despite best advice and her inability at times to monitor him adequately. I was frustrated with her stubbornness and another character’s refusal to accept help with her severe OCD and mental illness. Both times lives were compromised.
The release of black cockatoo to the wild and the accompanying nature story was interesting. As were the other characters who were on the periphery. I liked Lil and Earl, indigenous people who were gentle, switched on and giving.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a slow start, but at the halfway point I was hooked. Really a dual story and the stories eventually overlap. The first is of a bird researcher who has some serious mental issues and the second is of a woman who’s husband is disappearing before her eyes into early onset Alzheimer’s. The setting of rural Australia also plays an important part in the setting. There is a lot of depth in this book and it seemed very real. It’s quiet but powerful and I feel like it will stay with me for awhile.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book that touched on many issues, all wrapped up into one story: relationships; mental illness; the environment/conservation; team dynamics; the nature of small towns; Alzheimers/dementia; and carers.

Enjoyable, easy read. I'm looking forward to reading more from Harriet McKnight.

[Aneets · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I loved the description of the Australian bush and the parallel story lines of the two main protagonists were really moving. Will defintely keep an eye out for this author. 4 stars.

[Sandra Bowden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a 'Book Club' book that I would not probably have selected myself. Whilst I did enjoy the book overall, I found Arianna to be a difficult entity to like. Likewise the prospect of Alan's increasing development of dementia was very sad.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully written book about personal tragedy, love and loss. An easy read which keeps you interested all the way through.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappointing narrative but one of the most accurate depictions of dementia that I've read in fiction.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absorbing book about two women wrestling with personal demons who are brought together by a flock of threatened black cockatoos. Sounds like an odd premise but it was a good read.

[Carol Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very heartwarming but gutwrenching story with a fascinating storyline that I really enjoyed and look forward to more from this author

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is of a genre I normally would not read. I found the Australian setting for the story interesting and the subject good. I would have preferred more depth particularly in the dementia aspect.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Sarah Brade · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5stars

[Sandra Hamilton]

Very descriptive account of dementia and a different type of mental problem. Enjoyed reading.

[Geetha Chandran · Rating 3 out of 5]

australian bush, conservation post minning , black cockatoos and caring for someone with Alheimers.
destruction and devestatuin is the main theme

[Rebekah Howarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hard and poignant read. The two plot lines can seem loosely related but I found that as the days went by I understood more and more parallels. Wonderfully written. Provoking themes.

[Lesley Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Australian author Harriet McKnight's debut novel "Rain Birds" relates two intertwining tales of very different types of grief and loss experienced within families.

Set in Victoria's East Gippsland, the two central characters, Pina and Arianna are each struggling to come to terms with both their past and an uncertain future.

Pina and her husband Alan have lived a somewhat idyllic lifestyle for the past 30 years together in their somewhat isolated bushland community.

The story details the progress of Alan's early onset Alzheimers and Pina's attempts to reconcile their happy past with the challenges of dealing with her husbands cognitive deterioration.

The arrival of a flock of glossy black cockatoos seem to somehow pin him in the present, giving Pina hope that it may in fact be possible to delay the inevitable.

It is these birds which also link their tale to that of conservation biologist Arianna, herself attempting to escape the demons of her past.

Having bred the endangered birds in captivity, Arianna and her colleague Tim are faced with the challenge of reintroducing her hatchlings into their natural habitat within Murrungowar National Park.

Isolated in the Victorian bush, Arianna struggles to come to terms with the apparent failure of their project and her conflict with the environmentally controversial project which is funding her program.

As the two story lines intertwine and the women's paths intersect, they are both forced to let go of their past and move forward into an uncertain future.

Currently dealing with my own father's dementia and cognitive decline, I found myself continually nodding as McKnight relates Pina's feelings of anger, frustration and grief. Her writing gives an accurate insight into the conflicting and often guilt ridden emotional roller coaster ride families encounter when dealing with this very different kind of loss.

Her depiction of Arianna eloquently portrays an anxiety ridden young woman who is determined to prove that she is not determined by her somewhat difficult past.

The thought provoking story examines the very different types of grief and loss which are experienced within families

I found Rain Birds to be a thoroughly enjoyable, relatable and thought provoking read.