This one follows the story of a young girl and her family in Australia during the Depression, living in a rough shack and barely getting by. The writing is good, but there issues for me with the plot: one of her brothers lives almost exclusively in the system of tunnels that he digs (starting when is only something like 5 years old) under their house and spreading for what seems like must be miles. I can't quite put my finger on what didn't work for me; the story seems a little directionless and I just couldn't quite be okay with that tunneling brother or his part in the story. However, the suspense of the thing kept me reading despite my quibbles. ( )

(I don’t think there is any way I can explain this amazing story. I will try, but I will fail.)

Harper Flute and her family struggle during Depression times in rural Australia. Her little brother Tin takes to tunneling as life for the family gets more and more desperate. As Tin spends more and more of his time tunneling, the family begins to let Tim go.

How would you classify this story? Historical fiction? Maybe. Science fiction? Maybe a little of that, too.

In any case, it’s truly a story like no other that I have read. ( )

A veritable page-turner.

It's a bumpy but exhilarating ride as the fortunes of the young female narrator's family alternately soar and plumb the depths.

This was my second Sonya Hartnett. My first, Surrender was let down, to my mind, by a mind-bogglingly strange/ludicrous ending. Even then the overall quality of writing made it a 4-star read.

This time I found myself wondering where exactly on the roller-coaster of fortunes we were going to end, and was pleased with the way it was managed. An appropriately satisfying ending to a very good read indeed. ( )

En mycket lovande bok om livet på den australiensiska landsbygden under mellankrigstiden. Harpers familj kämpar för att hålla hungern borta i en fattig del av Australien. Hennes pappa jagar kaniner för att de ska få något att äta och för att sälja skinnet, men förutom det finns det inte så många möjligheter till inkomster för familjen. Hennes bror Tin gräver tunnlar för att undkomma och skapar sig en egen värld under marken.

En oerhört välskriven och gripande berättelse berättad ur Harpers perspektiv. Detta gör att livet och fattigdomen speglar ur hennes synvinkel, vilket bidrar till berättelsen. Karaktärerna känns trovärdiga och komplexa. Tyvärr hann jag inte läsa ut den innan det var dags att lämna tillbaka den, men hann ändå tillräckligt långt för att säga att jag verkligen gillar den. Boken funkar bra som högläsning eller som egenläsning.