Cape Grimm

By: Carmel Bird

Narrated by: Humphrey Bower, Nicki Paull

On the far northwest coast of Tasmania at Cape Grimm lies the isolated and idiosyncratic community of Skye, which practises a religion that reveres the imagination. One clear evening in 1992 all the inhabitants enter the church hall, where they are locked in and burned alive. They have been persuaded to do this by a young man called Caleb Mean - also known as El Nino, the Christ Child. The only survivors of the fire are Caleb, his lover Virginia, and their baby daughter Golden. How could such a thing happen? Do the answers lie in the history of Skye itself, founded by the unlikely survivors of a 19th century shipwreck? Or do the only real clues lie in the dark truths of fairytales?

©2004 Carmel Bird (P)2004 Bolinda Publishing

Dreamlike and compelling

Any additional comments?

The summary of this book would lead you to expect a typical overdramatic story about a fringe cult driven to mass suicide. Instead, it's a haunting reminiscence by the people who have survived the event and who are now trying to fit the story of what happened at Skye into the narrative of their own lives. The book won't satisfy people who want a story that confirms how weird cults are, and it won't satisfy people who want a fast-paced action/rescue narrative. It will be deeply satisfying to listeners who think about what happens after a tragic event to those who were directly and indirectly touched by it. It's a story that celebrates the power of the imagination while recognizing that it can have dark consequences.

This is also a book for someone who wants to feel immersed in the landscape of the story - Carmel Bird's beautiful prose and the astonishing synchronicity of the two narrators really bring the listener deep into the world of Skye.

Too self-referential

This writer spends too much time talking about telling the story instead of just telling it. Also, strange glossary at the end which doesn't contribute to the story very well, although some of the fairy tales are interesting. This glossary may work well when actually reading the book, but doesn't work well when listening. Ending is anticlimatic and cliche.