Tony Birch’s novel Women and Children (UQP 2023) is a powerful portrait of a family beset by intergenerational trauma, abuse and family violence, penned by one of Australia’s greatest living writers, an author who leaves us with characters that feel like real people we know.
This intimate account of the Cluney family peaks our interest in the characters from the first pages and we are soon intensely invested in their fates. Set in working-class Melbourne in the 1960’s, the story centres on 11-year-old Joe Cluny, an endearing and likeable lad who manages to get into trouble at every turn, especially with the Catholic nuns who school him. His sister Ruby is much better behaved, so much so that she is invited to stay with a rural family for the holidays (a much sought-after reward). This leaves Joe at home for the break with his mum, Marion, who works at a drycleaners. His father, Stan, is an absent bookmaker. Marion can’t afford leave so entrusts Joe to the care of his grandfather Charlie, an eccentric, warm, caring and gentle man who adores Joe’s quirkiness and attitude and encourages him to be a better man than those modelled around him.
The plot thickens when Marion’s sister Oona arrives unexpectedly on their doorstep one night, her body covered with bruises, her face a mask of pain. Her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Ray Lomax, has communicated his displeasure with his knuckles and his boots, as he is wont to do. The age-old story of violence, followed by ‘sorry’, followed by more violence, with the woman agreeing again and again to return, is noted in painful and intimate detail. Marion wants to help her sister but there is only so much she can do when Oona lacks the wherewithal or resources to stand up for herself. Charlie is devastatingly powerless (although his spine, grit and moral backbone provide a solid anchor in a wavering sea).
This is a gripping tale about the innocence of a child (Joe) and abusive behaviour, particularly the emotional and physical violence of the nuns and priests, the leaders of the church. Themes include family violence, trust, loyalty, forgiveness, and what it is to be a good man.
Tony Birch specialises in writing stories featuring powerful, strong women, promoting them as role models for their families and communities. Some of the minor characters – the church housekeeper and Charlie’s friend Ranji – elevate the story with warmth, compassion and common sense, and the chance to show strength when they witness vulnerability, fragility and nonsensical thinking.
Women and Children explores moral and ethical behaviour; the law versus what is right. Birch takes us right into the living rooms and classrooms of these characters, and we are given clear insight into the interiority of their thinking.
The scenes of young Ruby cleaning Oona after a particularly bad beating – carefully wiping away the blood and gently cleansing her wounds – is so beautifully written and yet so hard to read.
This is a book about judgement, poverty, power, pride, family reputation, class and racial prejudice. It examines the thoughts, imaginings and fears of children, and how in their innocence, they sometimes don’t understand what they are witnessing and can misconstrue situations that seem obvious to adults. It is about the sometime horrors of institutions such as the church. It celebrates the gentleness of men and the strength of women. People do what it takes to survive in this story. There is brutality, grime, restlessness, and a fear of the streets. There is bullying, violence and verbal abuse.
The book explores the conflict between Protestants and Catholics with the underlying theme of the existence (or otherwise) of God; the damnation of Hell versus God’s mercy delivered through grace and prayers.
The narrative is about male friendships, sibling relationships, silences, truths untold, people turning a blind eye, and community standards.
The gripping tension heightens by increments until the final pages. We feel for ALL of the characters, as we wonder just how far some will go to protect others.
This is Tony Birch at the height of his powers. He is an exceptional writer and a skilled storyteller. He tells a bloody good yarn and the reader comes away feeling cleansed, despite the darkness of the subject matter.