By Billie Walker
REVIEWS
At a time when we are constantly living through unprecedented times, we have for better or worse begun to accept the unprecedented precedent. The constant churn of grind culture invites us to be distracted by our day to day, ignoring the bigger picture. This is something we have in common with the two narrators of Ali Millar’s Ava Anna Ada. The debut novel begins after a mysterious Earth-shaking event, and the fringes of its setting are littered with The Watchers, who have dedicated their lives to waiting for the next natural disaster. But Ava and Anna are more concerned with their own miserable lives.
Through the neurotic stream of consciousness that flits from Ava to Anna and back again we learn of their vulnerability and a shared loss that informs a growing curiosity with one another. It is a book that’s filled with many mysteries to intrigue the reader, from ecological to personal, but at its core is concerned with growing obsession. Ava Anna Ada is a poetic addition to the dystopian novel, brimming with the violent imaginings of its protagonists and the hum of anxiety that fills each page. Millar’s book creates an air of dread with its apocalyptic backdrop, while human dramas persist in the forefront.
Perhaps I am cursed to begin every year with a novel about a woman’s marital struggles. Perhaps every year an author needs to remind us of the archaic heteronormative structure that many still wish to tie themselves to, thinking that their experience is unique enough that they won’t fall into the same patterns of behaviour. Ainslie Hogarth’s Normal Women follows new mother and wife Dani as she finds herself living the normal life she never thought she would. She was certain from Clark’s hands-on parenting in the early days of their newborn baby that things would be different for her. But after Clark’s promotion and necessary location change the couple find themselves in suburbia and Dani finds hers
