Powerful and Personal: Read Our Review of Women & Children by Tony Birch

It’s 1965 Melbourne and young Joe Cluny is living with his mum, Marion, and sister, Ruby, in a tough, working-class suburb. When his Aunty Oona turns up, distressed and in need of somewhere to stay, Joe’s simple view of the world is challenged. He begins to understand that the women in his family carry secrets, including on their bodies. His Mum and aunty make a plan but their pleas for assistance are met with silence and complicity from all sides. Who will help Joe’s family at their time of need?

Women & Children is the fourth novel from one of our most-loved and clear-eyed storytellers, Tony Birch. He’s also penned five short fiction collections, and two poetry books. The breadth of his award-winning talent is on display in this elegantly crafted work of fiction that explores, with powerful sensitivity, the impact of violence on women through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy.

The writing is perfectly pitched to the naivety of our protagonist, Joe. It’s unambiguous, direct and devastating in its understatement. Joe is the cheeky kid who’s always in trouble with the nuns at his local Catholic primary school, the opposite to his model-student sister. When Ruby goes away to the country for a few weeks, Joe spends the Christmas holidays with his grandfather Charlie (Char). His relationship with Char is tender and nurturing, and Birch contrasts that with the violence of his Aunty Oona’s life.

The cover photo of Women & Children is in fact Birch’s sister on her First Communion Day, along with his godmother, taken by his mother. And so, we catch an intimate glimpse into the author’s past. It’s this honesty and willingness to share that resonates in Birch’s writing and makes this book so compelling.

There is much about faith and religion in this book, and how it can be used against those it should protect. This is an intelligent and deeply moving story. It’s not about his own family, Birch writes in the author’s note, but it’s motivated by his family’s refusal to accept silence as an option. It’s a story that witnesses both the trauma of violence and the freedom that comes with summary justice.

Women & Children is a novel about the love and courage between two sisters, and the sudden loss of childhood innocence. In the hands of Tony Birch, this powerful, personal story is a stunning read.

Buy a copy of Women & Children here.