The Velveteen Rabbit

Set in Melbourne during the end of the pandemic, Melanie Cheng's The Burrow (2024) is a beautifully written story about a family and their experiences of grief. 

Amy, Jin and their 10 year old daughter Lucie live a quiet life in isolation. At the outset we learn that this family is still navigating their loss, four years earlier, of six-month old Ruby who accidentally drowned in the bath. This tragedy has seen each family member turn inward - Jin focussing on his work as a doctor, Amy writing her second book, and Lucie trying to make herself as small as possible to escape the tension in the household. Then Amy's mother Pauline comes to stay in their granny flat, adding another layer of complexity.

Lucie has long wanted a pet. Her parents finally conceded, bringing home a small fawn coloured rabbit. They set up a hutch in the backyard and observe this timid creature as he sniffs around the garden. This little rabbit breaks the stagnant routine of their lives and sets forth a reconciliation of sorts as the family come to terms with their long-held and often unspoken grief.

Told in alternating chapters from the third person point of view of Amy, Jin, Lucie and Pauline, The Burrow could have been a depressing book about loss. Melanie Cheng's gentle prose and gifted storytelling elevates the story and showcases the realistic, everyday life of a normal family and the tender hope that holds them together. 

I loved The Burrow and thoroughly recommend it. Despite the sad themes, this is an uplifting, hopeful and heartwarming story.