Michaela Kolofsky

They retreat into a world where

of their own creation.

Sometimes I found that a little bit too much, but it is still also quite moving.

I did notice that one reviewer said that the characters were detailed to the point of caricature.

This is Bec Kavanagh writing in The Guardian.

She said also that Long Coat Bob and Yukio Miki, the fighter pilot, both play a version of, quote, the magical other, a trope made popular in film and television narratives where a character, typically black,

brings a deep spiritual wisdom to the lives of white protagonists but is otherwise lacking in agency.

I can see that argument too.

I can see that there is an oversimplification.

But within the style that Dalton is not just attempting but pulling off, I can see that that may not have been what he intended in any way.

Well, this is certainly a work of great imagination and the description is exuberant.

That's how you would call it.

It's, it's very moving, but I wonder if it will reach the audience that Boy Swallows Universe did, which is far more grounded in a gritty working class poverty.

Trent Dalton's All Our Shimmering Skies is published by HarperCollins.

You're listening to The Bookshelf on ABC Radio National, your weekly podcast of all the books you might want to read next.

I'm Cassie McCullough, and I'm here with Michaela Kolofsky while Kate Evans is away.

And time now to meet today's guest.

Yes, Cassie, we are joined by Morag Fraser.

Yes, I also enjoyed A Room of Leaves.

I haven't got to Amanda Lowry's yet.