What the Birds See

Sonya Hartnett

From Shelf: The 2003 Women's Prize for Fiction Longlist

Unexplainable events trouble Adrian, but then most things do. He's afraid of quicksand, tidal waves, self-combustion and shopping centres. He is a timid boy whose routine rarely changes, until the day the new children arrive in the house across the street, and then everything changes.

On a late autumn day in 1977 a fishing boat dredges the carcass of a huge sea monster from the black waters of the Pacific. In a peaceful suburban neighbourhood, three children go to the shop to buy ice-cream and never return home. These events trouble Adrian, but then most things do. He's afraid of quicksand, tidal waves, self-combustion, shopping centres... A timid boy, who says little and does what he's told, he finds there is much in his world that he cannot understand. He lives with his gran and his Uncle Rory; his only friend is Clinton Tull, his one talent is for drawing. The routine of his life rarely changes - until the day the new children arrive in the house across the street. Then everything changes. Sonya Hartnett's dark, poignant and suspenseful novel perfectly captures the tenderness, cruelty and skewed perceptions of childhood.

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