You may have heard the announcement by Sean Manning, of Simon & Schuster’s flagship imprint in the US, that he will “no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books”. Australian media academic Julian Novitz discussed the decision in The Conversation in a piece titled “Brilliant, moving, thought-provoking! Simon & Schuster is dispensing with book blurbs – will it make any difference?” I considered writing a post on this, asking for your thoughts on these blurbs. Do they influence you in any way? But I didn’t. Instead, I am using it to introduce Australian author, Melanie Cheng’s latest novel, The burrow.
As you can see from the cover of my edition, it is beautifully spare, but it does have two blurbs. At the top is Christos Tsiolkas’ “stupendously good” and at the bottom, Helen Garner’s “how rare this delicacy – this calm, sweet, desolated wisdom”. Tsiolkas and Garner are respected, robust writers who don’t flinch from uncomfortable truths, so their commendation carries some weight with me. However, there are readers who don’t like these authors. Will that turn them away from the novel? I’d be interested to know. Meanwhile, I’ll get onto the book, which, at 184 well-spaced pages, is surely a novella.
The back cover tells me that it’s about a family confronting “long-buried secrets”, and that it “tells an unforgettable story about grief and hope”. Oh, and that the family buys a pet rabbit. There’s not a lot to go on here besides the usual cliches about secrets, grief and hope, but I was interested because I have had Melanie Cheng in my sights for some time, and it has just been shortlisted for this year’s Victorian Premier’s Literary Award.
It does seem, however, that grief is following me around this year, as the heart of this novel concerns the drowning death of a six-month-old baby girl some four years before the novel starts. The family – parents Amy and Jin Lee, and their remaining daughter, 10-year-old Lucie – is surviving intact, but only just. The novel is set in Melbourne during the pandemic, just as lockdown restrictions are being relaxed, so the family is needing to confront the outside world a little more. Reminding me somewhat of Charlotte Wood’s Stone Yard devotional (my review), our threesome is disturbed by two new additions, the pet rabbit bought for Lucie, and Amy’s mother Pauline who has broken her wrist and cannot live alone for a while. These two, along with the relaxing of lockdown, offer potential catalysts for change. Will it be for the good or will the family implode?
Cheng tells her story through the alternating third-person perspectives of the characters. The writing is beautifully spare, but also engaging and moving. Having experienced a devastating death in my own family – my sister, not my child – I am interested in how people traverse such grief, particularly when there is potential for blame and guilt. Every situation is different, but there are, I think, some universals – love, generosity, and communication (or lack thereof). The Lee family has some of each of these, but not enough, and hence the just-surviving-but-not-really-living state they find themselves in. It’s realistic, believable.
I am always impressed by writers who can unfold a story slowly, but in few words, and Cheng is one of these writers. What exactly happened is divulged gradually in such a way as to make us think about how it affected – and is still affecting – the person whose perspective we are reading. It lets us feel the different ways grief can stall us. It also gives us time to get to know the characters, and to understand and relate to them. For these reasons, the story is tricky to talk about because if I explain what happened, I undermine all Cheng’s good work, so I’ll leave the story here and get back to the two additions.
As actors in the story, the rabbit and Pauline are opposite ends of the spectrum. The rabbit is a quiet, largely passive presence which interacts minimally with the family but provides a focal point for their thoughts. He brings a “sparkle” back to Lucie’s eyes that had been missing for some time. However, as a prey animal he also reminds them of the fragility of life. A rabbit is an interesting choice, one that kept me thinking about in terms of his significance. The novel is titled “The burrow”, but it’s not a simple literal reference to the rabbit. A burrow is also referenced in the epigraph from Franz Kafka’s short story “The burrow”:
The most beautiful thing about my burrow is the stillness. Of course, that is deceptive. At any moment it may be shattered and then all will be over.
How are we to read this? The family has already been shattered, and at the opening of the novel it does feel as though all is over, that they are mainly going through the motions of living. But of course it’s not all over. Sure, they are not doing very well. They are isolated from others (and not just because of the lockdown which had given them “a reprieve”, excuses to not engage). But they are still together, and they haven’t completely given up. They buy the rabbit for Lucie when she shows interest in something; they invite Pauline back into their lives when it appears she needs them.
And this brings me to Pauline. She sweeps in, injecting much needed energy, whether they want it or not. She can’t help herself, and for death-focused Lucie it’s energising, “a good thing”. However, it’s also clear that Pauline is involved in Ruby’s death in some way, that it’s not only the pandemic that has separated her from the family for four years. Now, though, she might make the difference.
But, there’s no guarantee. The family suffers several setbacks, literal and metaphorical, on their journey – sickness, an intruder, conflict, and more. Their journey reflects that in Richard Adams’ classic, Watershed Down, which Pauline reads to Lucie and which she characterises as “the epic story of an odd group of rabbits and their quest to establish a thriving warren”.
There is so much to like about this book, and it starts with the characters. With almost as few brushstrokes as artist Phil Day used for the cover rabbit, Cheng has created characters who represent some big ideas and thoughts, who embody the humanity of unspeakable grief, but who are yet so very individual. It’s a great read, with an ending that captures hope and fragility at the same time.
Melanie Cheng
The burrow
Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2024
185pp.
ISBN: 9781922790941
Review copy courtesy Text Publishing
Whispering Gums 
There is so much quiet wisdom woven into the fabric of this novel.
There is Carmel, I agree. It’s beautiful.
Top review !
I’m mad for Garner, loathe Tsiolkas’ work.
Probably won’t read: his comment comes first.
Actually because I don’t read about grieving.
Thanks MR. I understand. If I didn’t, I’d say to you that I think his probably comes first for cover design issues! But I would know really!
BTW I know readers who dislike both authors, but I think I know more who don’t like Tsiolkas. I’ve liked what I’ve read but I’ve certainly not read all of his work.
I loved The Burrow, and on impulse I gave a copy to my 18-year-old granddaughter Emily for Christmas. Emily is not a huge reader, but I was delighted to receive a text message from her last week saying that she had just finished reading it and that she loved it.
On another note: I’ve been in an interesting discussion with some fellow editors in the UK and US about the word ‘blurb’. Here in Australia, and in the UK, the word ‘blurb’ refers to the description of a book that generally appears on the back cover. It’s usually written by the editor or commissioning editor.
In the US, however, the word ‘blurb’ refers to the brief celebrity endorsements that often appear on the front cover.
In Australia and the UK we would call these endorsements or review quotes.
I was very confused when I first read this story about blurbs, assuming it meant that publishers were no longer going to provide a description of the book on the back cover. My UK colleagues told me the same thing.
Ah thanks Teresa… I knew they meant the front corner ones but just decided that they must use the word blurb for both these pithy ones and the back cover ones which I was sure were called blurbs. The Conversation didn’t disabuse me of this thought but what you say is what I had thought! Endorsement is a much better word for what he is talking about.
Oh – my blog must be confusing to the US then, I am always putting the ‘blurb’ in there. Though, unrelated to this I have been slowly moving away from it. It often doesn’t match my expectation of the story and leaves me feeling a bit disappointed. I think the short summaries that most bloggers do is far more accurate and a better guide for whether I will love the book or not.
Haha Rach … I agree re those blurbs on the back .. they try to sensationalise or rev up the book, rather than really inform the reader. I hate all those cliches they tend to use.
I think the worst was Stone Yard Devotional, when I thought her sister had died, and was expecting some weird twist… but it was her ‘sister’ (nun). Rofl, not quite as sensational, and probably better for it not being turned into a family murder mystery…
Ah, I remember our discussion about Stone Yard Devotional but I hadn’t realised you’d been partly thrown by the blurb. I rarely read the blurbs at the back of the books, though sometimes I read them half way through my reading! I think, oh, I wonder what the blurb says about this book. I usually buy books I know I want to read so the blurbs aren’t important to me. But, if I’m looking for books for people who read different sorts of books to me, and I don’t have any recommendations, then I will sometimes read the blurb.
Hi Sue, a great review, but such a sorrowful story. Though at the end there is some hope. Despite the themes, a beautifully written novel.
I’m glad you agree Meg … it’s such a true novel I think, from beginning to end.
I loved this book and was delighted to see it make the Vic Premier’s Literary Awards shortlist. And I didn’t just rely on Christos’s blurb/puff (which can sometimes be polite): I asked him straight out and he assured me it was that good.
Thanks Angela. It was the listing that made me bump it up the review copy queue. This is something I never used to do, but I thought it might also be shortlisted for the Stella so I was keen to read it. Re Christos Tsiolkas, I’m sure authors are sometimes polite. Presumably most want to support other writers, particularly those starting out (though Cheng has a bit under her belt now, doesn’t she?)
Anyhow, it’s great hearing from others who loved the book too.
I read this little gem about 6 weeks ago and was captivated by the skilful writing and storytelling. I enjoyed reading your review and recommend it too.
Thanks Libbycat … little gem is a lovely description.
Yes I have this one sitting next to my computer after my step daughter gave me a copy for Christmas (she works for Text). It got a lot of recommendations in the Age just prior to Christmas when Australian authors were selecting their top 3 (or more) books of the year.
Looking forward to reading it now… thanks for the review.
How nice having your stepdaughter work at Text! I do hope you like this.
Such a great review Sue – you have really captured the essence of Cheng’s brilliance without giving away the key parts of the plot (I have just finished listening to the audiobook and loved it).
Because I listened to the audio, I didn’t see the testimonials on the cover – do they sway me? Personally, it’s positive reinforcement if it’s an author I like giving the testimonial, but if it’s one I’m not keen on, it doesn’t dissuade me (I hope that makes sense!). Ultimately, I see testimonials as part of the publicity machine and I know that they’re also part of authors paid work (to give them), so on that basis, I don’t put too much thought into them.
Thanks very much Kate … I really wanted to avoid doing that so I’m glad you think it works. I thought you’d like it. I wonder what line giving insight into grief you might choose, if you are going to choose one. I know which one I’d choose.
And yes, makes perfect sense re the testimonials.
And
In terms of grief, it’s actually very complex and layered – which is also why Cheng has written an incredibly good story because it ‘appears’ relatively straightforward. There is always a strong element of ‘survivor guilt’ in circumstances such as the characters find themselves in (and I won’t say more as you will know who that mostly refers to), which makes grieving more complex.
There are two types of bereavement that are treated clinically differently from the rest – suicide and death of a child. Both are complex for different reasons.
I think Cheng’s use of the rabbit (and its characteristics as an animal) was a masterstroke – it both softened the grief-themed plot, but gently highlighted key elements at the same time. So clever.
Yes good point Kate re the rabbit softening the grief theme.
For some reason, in the US, a lot of newly published books have completely gotten rid of the synopsis on the back of the book and just loaded it full of author blurbs praising the novel. My concern is that they are always over the top, like nothing could ever be better than this book, but when everybody does that, it means nothing at all. I also see some authors write so many blurbs that I start to be doubtful of whether they actually read everything they blurb. Anyway. I believe some people are paid for blurbing novels? Now, if you want to read the synopsis of many books here in the US, you have to open the book and read the front flap of the hardcover novel. I can’t remember what happens with paperbacks, though…
I’ve not heard of The Burrow but it sounds very sad.
On blurbs, I must admit I don’t think they hold much sway with me, even if it is by an author I admire. I figure they would hardly put a bad blurb on the cover so I can’t read too much into them.
Oh thanks Becky, and so sorry for my delay in approving your comment and replying, Somehow I missed seeing you comments.
Love your thinking re burbs. I wonder how many people do take notice.
I have this in my digital TBR but not sure I am in the mood to read it just yet… a beloved aunt died unexpectedly last week so I might hold off for awhile. I previously loved Cheng’s Room for a Stranger.
I’m sorry to hear that Kimbofo. It’s so hard losing our loved people. Take care.
I’m glad you liked her earlier work. I’ve been wanting read her for a while.
This sounds such a good read but knowing there is a rabbit makes me nervous something might happen to it. I’m just not good with animals in books. I don’t take much notice of blurbs from other authors on any book. They aren’t going to tell you to read this book though it’s terrible! I do like a short summary just briefly outlining what it is about. That is helpful. I have found that sometimes more sensational blurbs aren;t accurate. Such as this is the best suspense novel ever and I trust that to find it wasn’t true at all.
Thanks Pam … what can I say? I can’t give the book away …
What you say about blurbs pretty well mirrors my thoughts. A short summary is all I’d like, not some attempt to sensationalise it without actually tell you what it’s all about.
I agree completely
Oh this sounds good! Wonderful review. Also, I am not sad for blurbs to go away. I pay zero attention to them since I’ve never really believed they were authentic in the first place.
Thanks Stefanie … particularly for your comments on blurbs. It’s interesting to hear readers’ thoughts but I’m not surprised by what I’m hearing.
I tried to leave a comment and it wouldn’t let me so let me try this comment.
Why does WordPress do this to us, Jinjer? Bill had a problem too. A couple of people did recently, with very long posts, but I don’t think the length had anything to do with it. I suspect it’s more to do with some conniptions re verifying the commenter.
Ooookay. It let me leave that comment. Let me try my original comment again. I was S A Y I N G that I always read the blurbs on the inside and back covers so that I know what a book is about!!! I do not approve of books without blurbs. 😀
Oh you are a radical Jinjer! Thanks so much for adding your tuppence worth to this discussion. Do you care about those little promotional ones on the front?
No ma’m I do not! I don’t even look at them. 😆
Haha, well that’s something then! Seriously though, of course there’s no right or wrong, but I am interested in what other readers do.
Yup. It’s all good!
I see that ‘blurbs’ in this context means front cover endorsements. Back cover blurbs I read a little as I can to get some idea of what the book is about. My pet hate is seeing them being used in ‘reviews’.
My daughter gave her kids a couple of rabbits, which was a disaster in Perth, which is entirely built on sand. They filled the back yard with burrows and were soon away.
As for the book, I can do without grief fiction.
Thanks Bill, I’m with you re blurbs snd endorsements. I think I have very occasionally quoted from a back cover blurb in a review but if I have it’s rare. I don’t enjoy seeing them used constantly to replace the reviewer’s sense of what the book is about. I tend not to regularly read bloggers who do that as a rule.
Very funny re the rabbits. We had one rabbit foray which didn’t end well. We had no idea about rabbits and though are Gums built a beautiful hutch and we cared for her as best we could, she got sick and died. We went back to dogs!
Fair enough re grief fiction!
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I am more likely to read blurbs on a book than a synopsis (although there was a time when it was exactly the opposite) because I don’t want to have anything spoiled (and most synopses go “too far” for my liking these days). I think of them like literary prizes–it’s an imperfect system but it has an up-side. The authors who are approached (set aside what exactly they say, the contents of the blurb) gives a clue as to the readership that the writer and the publisher imagine for the book…and that invites me to guess whether I’ll connect to the book as I have to the blurbers’ books. Just a clue, but I’ll take it.
Enjoyed your thoughts on this Marcie. I take your point re which authors write a blurb. I certainly notice that too – but then I often think, oh, so they’re friends. But, particularly where I’m less certain that’s the case, I do take note because it is a clue as you say.
Re synopses, i’m not sure I’ve ever really had that happen but I don’t always read them anyhow or if I do it’s when I get the book which is often a long time before I read it so by then I would have forgotten!
I’ve heard so often about a writer approaching another writer they don’t know for a blurb, the intense anxiety and uncertainty surrounding the request and the wondering about whether there will be any response at all let alone a positive one, that I don’t jump to the idea that the blurbers and blurbees are friends. But I know that does happen. Well one example I can think of, without naming the book, is a dystopian literary novel set in an alternative future in what’s now southern Canada, in which the initial premise is that all the children might have died after some sort of incident…but the cover description references Lord of the Flies in such a way that, once you start reading the novel, you understand having read that summary, that it’s only a matter of time before they “find” the children after all (which does happen halfway through). I would preferred the suspense!
Oh, you really really don’t like a whiff of spoiler do you! I don’t want to be told the ending but I’m not too fussed about hints.
As for blurber and blurbee friendships, I guess I am aware of some writers’ circles snd friendships so can pick them. Given these blurbs are a thing I don’t blame them at all but like any advertising I don’t take a lot of notice besides one of interest.
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