For many writers, their second novel is often less remarkable than their debut. Not so the case of Kate Mildenhall, whose sophomore book, The Mother Fault, cemented its author’s status as a writer to watch in Australian literature. Mildenhall’s third novel, The Hummingbird Effect continues her trajectory as a writer who is not afraid to push boundaries and play with form and structure in order to explore complex ideas. In this latest offering, Mildenhall combines both her previous genres, historical and dystopian to create a multi-timeline novel exploring personal freedoms and the history (and future?) of the trade union movement in Australia.
Each reader of this novel will undoubtedly feel more connected to a different thread of the plot, which weaves back and forward in time in a sort of braided structure. There is the story of Peggy, in 1933 Footscray, whose at first joyous coupling with a local hero figure, Jack at the meat works where they are employed, turns darker as innovations to the industry threaten livelihoods and injure prides.
There is the story, told largely in text messages, of a contemporary family whose aging Aunt is living in the poorly named Sanctuary Gardens Aged Care facility during the 2020 lockdowns. There is also the future narrative of Cat and La, in 2031, a version of the world not too far divorced from our own, that presents a startling portrait of growing economic crises weighed up against the need for healthcare and job security. In this plot arc, La, who cannot work as a musician due to vocal strain, takes a job at a kind of ‘everything store’ (clearly based on Amazon) in order to be able to afford to embark on a course of IVF with her partner, Cat. This plot is rich and complex and explores a lot of the anxieties of today, touching on issues of the threat of AI, body autonomy, and the rights of workers in an increasingly consumerist world.
The fourth major plot is that of Maz and Onyx, living in a post-crisis world and diving for scraps of the former society that lived there. These two sisters escape their group when they begin to suspect that their leader has sinister motives. Each plot could have sustained a novel on its own, and the paring back of these into novella length pieces shows a lot of restraint on the part of the author.
The novel is subtle rather than didactic or preachy, a danger whenever trade union politics makes up a large component of the work. With a cast of so many characters to keep track of, it is no mean feat that Mildenhall has been able to sustain such a tight, controlled piece of work.
The Hummingbird of the title refers to an AI language model which appears in short vignettes throughout the book, being spoken to by an unknown figure called ErisX who asks it questions such as: what would you uninvent to make the world a better place?
I can see the value of these sections thematically, but the novel almost didn’t need them and they only served to restate points that were already being made by the other portions of the story. As is so often the case when instant messaging or text message conversations are conveyed in books, it is hard to strike the right tone, and it often feels like the writer is taking a shortcut. This appears to be just what is happening with Hummingbird, as the AI lays out its argument in large chunks of information. I would have liked to see these points being woven into the other plotlines, and in particular would have liked to have seen more development of the Forest segments with Onyx and Maz, to understand what the breakdown of the world really was and what caused it. Likewise, the sections of the novel set during the Victorian lockdowns felt a little sparse compared to the two Footscray timelines, perhaps due to a reluctance to relive that time period on the page just yet.
If you liked Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood or you were a fan of The Mother Fault, I think you’ll enjoy The Hummingbird Effect. It’s a novel that will likely show you something different every time you read it, depending on what is going on in the world.
THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
The Hummingbird Effect by Kate Mildenhall is available now from Scribner Australia. Grab yourself a copy from Booktopia HERE.
