Crow Children
Grieving the death of her father, Ava moves with her mum to Crawford, her grandparents’ home. The town is edged by forest and beset by crows, messengers who straddle the physical and spirit worlds. In return for guiding the dead to the afterlife, the birds demand payment in the form of memories, the life stories of those who are passing. When Ava’s grandmother begins to forget things, and Ava meets a strange, otherworldly boy who performs rituals with the crows, she must choose how far she will go to retrieve her beloved Nana’s memories.
This tender, mysterious novel draws delicate contrasts and connections between darkness and light, cruelty and kindness, age and youth and the physical and spiritual worlds. Ava’s journey, from anger and confusion at her father’s death to acceptance and hope, builds a sensitive, courageous character whose complexity is reflected in her new friends, from the ever-hopeful, also-bereaved Robin, to the captivating but dangerous Dustin. Drawn into the spirit world through his strange ceremonies, Ava meets the most unsettling character of all: the one-eyed crow king Corbie, who manifests as young boy with an old man’s voice and forces her into a costly choice to save her nana.
Nana’s advancing dementia is portrayed with a lightness and compassion that capture the confusion that darkens her sharp mind like clouds blocking the sun. It is Ava’s love for this mystical sage that leads the story into the light, and enables her to face a future that is ‘unpredictable and full of life … terrible, wonderful life.’ A brave and challenging book.
