2.75 stars

The Clinking tells the story of a near-future Australia experiencing an ecological collapse through the eyes of Elena and Orla searching for their father/husband who disappeared. Tom has been watching the world fall apart around him, powerless to make any real impact despite his research, and his grief for his child’s future has become too much to bear. The Clinking explores the consequences of a world ravaged by natural disasters, species extinctions and climate change. This story is more important than ever before and I appreciate how much passion the author clearly has for this issue.

This book consistently knocked me off my feet with its prose. Every word in every sentence is chosen mindfully and the way the environment is described is incredibly vivid. The dystopia the author has built gracefully toes the line between otherworldly and a little too close to home. Despite being on the shorter side I think this book is best digested over a few sittings.

This book employs a non-linear timelines of events, jumping between past and present which is a technique I generally enjoy. The author used this technique to explore how the environment degraded over time, how the powers that be failed to identify warnings signs, and how much space the state of the world took up in Tom’s mind. Tom’s grief and anguish over his failure to do more in his role as an ecologist is detailed, specially how this effected his role as a father and husband, but I think an opportunity was missed with the jumping timeline. Tom’s grief is omnipresent but I wish we saw it ebb and flow more leading up to the present narrative. Overall I think the depiction of grief is very powerful and does a great job at making the reader consider how grief manifests and effects relationships. The topic of choosing to have children in a dying world is also delicately explored and, again, encourages the reader to think critically about climate change.

Unfortunately, other than Tom, nothing stands out about the characters in this book. I feel most attached to characters when I am constantly learning about them but I didn’t get that from The Clinking. I also would’ve loved to see more of Orla’s perspective of Tom (besides him leaving) and how nature’s decline impeded his ability to be a father. I just struggled to keep picking this book back up, I’m not sure if I wasn’t in the right mood so I am considering trying to read it again in the future.

Overall I think the message of The Clinking strikes true and Susie Greenhill is clearly an immensely talented author.