Lost at Sea

Review: A Wreck of Seabirds by Karleah Olson

A few years ago I got to experience something completely new to me (and as a life long reader that is no easy feat). I had the privilege of reading my good friends book.

Now this is a potentially fraught situation.

What if it’s not any good?

What if you don’t like it?

Do you lie to your friend?

Do you smile and feign enthusiasm?

Well I’ve always been a bad liar, and an even worse actor - so you can imagine the relief that flooded my body after a meagre 10 pages of this resplendent debut. ‘A Wreck of Seabirds’ by Karleah Olson is a bewitching coastal gothic tale of heart ache and loss and trying to find the broken pieces of a life amidst the swell of the indifferent ocean. Wreck is a fresh coastal breeze that picks up the strands of your hair, snatches your breath, and leaves you shivering.

I cannot accurately express how much I loved this book. From the characters, to the writing, to the eerie sense of some unseen force - this book is delectable.

The narrative transverses three timelines and the short chapters ebb and flow like the tide, making the book almost impossible to put down. Just when you think you have a handle on what’s happening Olson pulls the beach towel out from underneath you and you’re left scrambling in the sand to know more.

The prose is at times poetic and others profound. It pulls you along, draws you in like a riptide, and before you know it you are completely adrift in the depth of Briony, Ren, and Aria’s story. The technical skill required to craft such a complex narrative, to build a complete world and populate it with characters that feel so human, is impressive. Olson writes as if it’s as easy as breathing (I am both overwhelmingly impressed and very jealous).

One of the most interesting aspects of this book (for which there are truly too many to list here) is the depiction of the landscape. Now Australia is known for its beaches, its coastline is legendary and rightfully so. But what captivated me was how those usually sun kissed beaches are shown in their tempestuous winter glory. Our winters are mild sure, but the coast is changed so completely during the colder, windier months. It is something else entirely – something wild and threatening (the perfect setting for this tale). Olson so perfectly conveys this little shown aspect of the Australian landscape. And although less impressive on a postcard – I love it all the same.

I am reluctant to drop any spoilers. The book is a bundle of mysteries that are inexplicably linked in the way that life in small towns so often are. The characters brush up against each other, and the reader gets to put the puzzle pieces together with some help from the author, but our beloved hero and heroine never get to know. Such is life I suppose. That is actually what I found to be the most haunting aspect of this tale (and there are a few) - the not knowing, it’s that these characters can never get closure.

Keeping with the gothic tradition the narrative foams and hisses with the suggestion of the supernatural. This is especially prevalent on Wreck Island. Although it is never spoken, or made explicit, I believe that there was something spooky at work there. Olson is a master at withholding. So much of what makes this book spectacular is all the things she does not write. So real is the world she has made I found myself falling into it even when I had put the book down.

I found myself plagued by the ‘what ifs’. They followed me around, haunted me. It reminded me of reading ‘I Who Have Never Known Men’ by Jacqueline Harpman. That fantastic book also hums with the unknown and the unseen that seems to be lingering between the ink, and left me spiralling in more and more complicated ‘what ifs’.

Karleah Olson’s debut is one of the best books I read in 2024 (and I read a lot of books). It is truly a remarkable book – unique and heart retching and enthralling. So, few books are perfect – but this one is. Do yourself a favour and get lost in the murky waters of ‘A Wreck of Seabirds.’

Buy the book here!