Thicker Than Water

by Cal Flyn

The debut work of narrative nonfiction by Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn examines colonialism, intergenerational guilt and violence on the Australian frontier through the life story of her distant relative: an explorer, pioneer and leader of several atrocities against the Gunaikurnai Aboriginal group native to Gippsland, Australia.

Commentary

A meaty read about the tendrils and overhang of British colonialism. Read it if you want to ask big questions about Britain, race and responsibility.

Reni Eddo-Lodge, The Guardian

Flyn deftly captures the looking-glass world of the antipodean landscape, so alien to European eyes… Her account is vivid with a sense of its strangeness; lyrically responsive to the odd local fauna and flora… The urgent question, “How can things be fixed?” infuses every page. To her credit, Flyn is aware of the ugly likelihood that they can’t.

Elizabeth Lowry, The Guardian

Stunning. Thicker than Water is a thrilling debut, a true story that reads like classy, compelling fiction. It succeeds above all because of its two striking protagonists: the dishonourable, flawed McMillan… and Flyn herself. Her ballsiness and likeability, as the narrator and the heroine of the travelogue, made her an irresistible companion.

Melanie Reid, The Times