Creepy folktale mystery set in Australia.

A young woman receives a note that changes what she knows about the disappearance of her brothers.

‘Flyaway’ breathes new magic into the Australian bush. I want to know what other secrets and creatures lurk in the dusty heat under our eucalypts.

Reading this book felt like discovering a precious gem in your own backyard. You’re just digging around in the garden one day then you notice a little glimmer. You pick it up for a closer look, and then… Wow!!

What an unexpected surprise.

Here are my thoughts in convenient dot points:

• To me the biggest strength of ‘Flyaway’ was the ambiguity it starts with. It’s unclear what the protagonist’s relationship is with other characters. It was necessary to read between the lines, especially with dialogue, which was really intriguing. It hooked me!

• I loved the creepy mum. Unsettlingly polite, sleeping all day, and described as empty like a cicada shell.

• Rather than applying European folktales to an Australian setting, the author created new and original ones*. This is very significant, as applying European folktales to our landscape and erasing the mythologies of First Nations people could be considered an example of cultural colonisation/invasion. The author has obviously put in great care and awareness of how storytelling can be a form of oppression. Creating new stories allows them to be shared by all. (*Some stories may have been inspired by traditional European folklore, such as the Pied Piper).

• The author deftly worked in acknowledgement of country and massacres of First Nations people. For example, it’s possible to read between the lines to find that a character is a First Nations person, but from a different nation than the story’s location. It’s rare that I would come across something realistic and sensible like this in a book.

• Sometimes I found it too heavy handed with the clever prose, especially in the beginning when the author was setting the scene. It slowed down the flow for me. One item of scene setting that I really loved though, was the mention of those plastic strips that are in the doorways at corner stores, it really took me back to my childhood in country Australia. I’d forgotten about those!

• There could have been a little more foreshadowing with significant symbols such as lemons and feathers. The significance of birds sort of came out of nowhere. Why couldn’t we have a scene with the mum creepily sucking lemons?

‘Flyaway’ is so clever and fresh!

I give it 4 out of 5 suspenseful small town secrets.

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More creepy short stories in a village:

Review: Folk by Zoe Gilbert

More Australian gothic:

Review: All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld

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