Ghosts of the Past

Anglo-Australian author Evie Wyld won the prestigious Miles Franklin award in 2014 for her novel All the Birds, Singing and in 2021 won the Stella Prize for The Bass Rock - a novel I absolutely loved. So I was eager to read her fourth novel, The Echoes (2024), recently shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction.

Set in London and Wangkatha Country in Western Australia, The Echoes is a non-linear novel told across multiple timelines. The novel opens with a chapter narrated by Max, a ghost of a man who is has recently been killed. He is trapped in the afterlife in his apartment, observing his partner in her grief. The story then shifts to earlier, in contemporary London, Hannah is an Australian barmaid in her early thirties. Her relationship with Max, a lecturer in creative writing, is strained as after six years together she still holds deep secrets about her past. Hannah grew up in a dysfunctional family in Western Australia, living on a property called The Echoes which was previously used as a reform school during the forced removal of the Stolen Generations. She had a miserable childhood and has isolated herself from her parents. 

Wyld has structured the novel with chapter titles signalling the narrative voice. 'After' chapters are from Max's perspective as a ghost trying to piece together the mystery of Hannah. 'Before' chapters are told from Hannah's point of view, in the months leading up to Max's death. 'Then' chapters are from Hannah's childhood. Interspersed between the cycle of after/before/then there are chapters named after characters - Hannah's mother, Uncle Tone, Mr Manningtree who lives on the property - which fill in the story and provide a different perspective. As the story progresses, we come to understand the reasons why Hannah is estranged from her family and does not want to talk about it with Max.

I really struggled with The Echoes and found it hard to engage with. There is no doubt that Wyld is a gifted writer - her prose is beautiful. The subject matter is rather bleak, but there was a lot of material here to make a compelling story. Ultimately, I found the characters unlikable and the structure jarring. While I appreciate what Wyld was attempting to do with this novel, unfortunately it didn't work for me. 

My reviews of Evie Wyld's previous novel, Bass Rock (2020), is also available on this blog.