Back in May, Sue, of the Whispering Gums site, celebrated her fifteenth blogging anniversary, and as part of the festivities, she hosted a book giveaway. Having duly commented on the post, I was then lucky enough to be chosen as one of the winners, with the prize a mystery, a book of Sue’s choosing. Now, selecting a book to meet someone else’s taste is a tricky thing indeed, so I was very interested to see what would drop through my letter box, and today’s post sees me taking a close look at the book Sue eventually decided might be of interest to me. Was she right? Well, let’s find out…
*****
Carmel Bird isn’t a writer I’d heard of before, but she’s certainly well regarded by all accounts. She was three times shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award in the 1990s and was the recipient of the Patrick White Award for her career’s work in 2016. Hers is a career spanning almost fifty years now, with a number of both novels and collections of shorter fiction available for readers to enjoy.
The book I was sent, Love Letter to Lola, is an interesting collection of short stories divided into two main parts. The first section, ‘Animals’, consists of twelve short pieces, most of which are narrated by animals, birds or insects. For example, the title piece has a blue macaw writing a letter to his lost love, who died tragically shortly after their reunion, while ‘The Affair at the Ritz’, narrated by a dying co*ckroach, tells the story of the woman who has left her to die.
The second half of the book, ‘Humans and Angels’, comprises six stories, with most a little longer than the animal fare. They’re just as imaginative and bizarre as the pieces in the first half, though, as can be seen in ‘Speed Bonnie Boat’, the story of a man on his way out to sea. His reason for taking this route? Well, apparently, it has something to do with Martians…
The closing piece, ‘Recording Angel’, runs to forty pages and is a letter sent from a very special place:
Having made contact with me, you possibly already know that I am Beau, Recording Angel. I was recently appointed to a permanent position as Island Archivist. It’s a fairly lowly position here, in the scheme of things, but I am pleased and proud to serve.
‘Recording Angel’, p.148 (Spineless Wonders, 2023)
“Here’ is the island of Nevermind, a special place whose purpose is to bring together lovers who never made it work during their lifetimes – which is where the story of Walter’n’Matilda (two special star-crossed lovers) comes in…
Bird shows a distinct liking for first-person narration (even for the animals!), with many of the stories basically extended monologues.In ‘The Comeback and the Pond of Dreams’, we’re in the hands of a dodo, or rather the ‘Spirit of the Species’, dreaming of a comeback thanks to advances in technology. Then, in ‘It’s a Mosquito Thing’, a buzzing insect brags about his species’ role in history.
Other stories do branch out into different styles, though. A good example of this is ‘Fertile and Faithful’, where the focus on the thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger, takes a more Biblical approach:
CHAPTER ONE
And the wolfish animal was tawny-golden, it was striped, and its tail was stiff, and its jaw could yawn a great curvature of width, and its teeth would tear the flocks to pieces so that blood lay brightly upon the penumbra of the fields of the night.
2 And for many thousands of years it roamed freely, quietly, stealthily through the forests of the island of lutruwita.
‘Fertile and Faithful’, p.39
Throughout the collection, diaries and letters abound, with Bird mixing it up to avoid the stories becoming too similar.
One interesting addition to Love Letter to Lola is the writer’s ‘Reflection’, a lengthy, at times rambling, look at the stories and their inspiration. As it turns out, one of my favourite animal stories, ‘The Caretaker’s Daughter’s Dog’, was inspired by something the writer saw after a dentist’s visit in the Melbourne CBD. Meanwhile, both ‘Speed Bonnie Boat’ and ‘Two Thirds of the Truth’were actually written for anthologies of stories inspired by H.G. Wells novels!
There’s a lot to like about Love Letter to Lola, but if I’m totally honest, this wasn’t a book for me. I found most of the animal stories a little repetitive and dull, with most zipping by without really leaving an impression. I did enjoy some of the longer stories in the second part more, but again, the closing piece, which I thought might turn out to be better, dragged. The voice(s) Bird uses might be a matter of taste, and I’m afraid it wasn’t really to mine.
Still, it made for an enjoyable enough couple of hours, so many thanks to Sue for sending the book along. And if this sounds more up your street than mine, please don’t let me put you off. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of people out there who would enjoy Bird’s stories, animal, human or otherwise 😉
