After three months of wandering on the other side of the globe, I arrived home one October morning to find that my front door had been kicked in by a large bird. This was my neighbour, who was standing in shattered glass on my doorstep, looking at me in a troubled way with his head on one side…
When Tom Pryce-Bowyer returns to his cabin in QueenslandΓ’β¬β’s wet tropics to write a biography, he expects only forest animals to disturb his concentration. Then Tom is faced with another disraction: deflecting the quixotic plans of Jack, a former intelligence officer who wants to thwart the promotion of an unsavoury American general.
As he researches for his biography, heΓ’β¬β’s also forced to confront secrets about the recent atrocities in East Timor. A more pleasant distraction for Tom is Emjay, a New York publisher with whom he strikes up a whirlwind affair after their respective marriages break off.
To TomΓ’β¬β’s dismay, his idyllic rainforest, and the life of his inquisitive neighbour Γ’β¬β a colourful southern cassowary of mystical dimensions Γ’β¬β both become endangered, and his late-blooming romance begins to fray…
IP (Interactive Publications Pty Ltd) –
Cassowary Hill takes the reader on a fascinating journey: from betrayal and corruption to heroism and altruism, from frivolous flirtation to tragic high romance, from metropolitan sophistication to Thoreau-like natural simplicity⦠With this novel, tropical nature is not a place in which to withdraw from civilization, but [one] in which human beings⦠rebalance the conflicting demands made on their lives by the contemporary globalized world. This is a newly emerging sub-genre of internationalist fiction, and David de Vaux is a fine practitioner of the mode.
β Stephen Torre, PhD, Journal of Studies in the Australian Tropics
IP (Interactive Publications Pty Ltd) –
David de Vauxβs writing underscores the importance of human-animal relationships. A deep sense of place brings Cassowary Hill into the readerβs experience, embodied by an allegorical shadow character in the form of a bird. Bird enthusiasts will likely enjoy the appearances of this odd avian companion, an unforgettable presence that invites us to question the sharp line between human and animal.
β Jessica Hardesty Norris, PhD, Former program director, American Bird Conservancy
IP (Interactive Publications Pty Ltd) –
ββ¦ echoes of Greene in de Vauxβs descriptive tour of exotic locales and themoral quagmires faced by his expatriate characters.β
β Kirkus Reviews
IP (Interactive Publications Pty Ltd) –
A captivating tale of intrigue that combines comedy and romance with a trenchant commentary on imperialist atrocities in Southeast Asia. β¦ Its philosophical musings aside, Cassowary Hill is also epic in its scope and opens an important window onto the imperialist-led atrocities and human rights violations in East Timor. At the same time, it never ceases to make the reader aware of the connections between human-engineered depredations, both political and environmental, around the globe and the precariousness of human relationships.
β Meenakshi Venkat, New York Review of Books