Review: Catching Teller Crow

Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An unusual read, which lightly skims over some dark atrocities.

Beth is dead, and trying to help her grieving dad solve a mystery. The mystery leads them to Isobel Catching, who has a rather strange story to impart ...

This was an easy read, taking a mere handful of hours from my day. On the surface, it's a light story about death and moving on, but it also references the horrific treatment of Aboriginal people in days gone by and gives a voice to people who should have been heard.

It's told by both Beth and Isobel, but while Beth's story is coherent and linear, Isobel's is more like a dream, told in scarce prose and fanciful images. It's a little hard to unravel, but that's a huge part of this story's charm.

There's a mystery to solve, but the storytelling itself is the main focus, as well as the nature of grief. I found it quite beautiful, if a little confusing.

For a story that was consumed so quickly, there's a lot of thoughts leftover. It's a soft glimpse of Australia's dark, racist past but there's kindness, love and support flowing through the story, easing the pain and hopefully encouraging a more positive step forward from anyone this story touches.

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