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The Animals in That Country

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The Animals in That Country

By: Laura Jean McKay
Narrated by: Laura Jean McKay
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WINNER OF THE ARTHUR C CLARKE AWARD

Out on the road, no one speaks, everything talks.

Hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, and allergic to bullshit, Jean is not your usual grandma. She’s never been good at getting on with other humans, apart from her beloved granddaughter, Kimberly. Instead, she surrounds herself with animals, working as a guide in an outback wildlife park. And although Jean talks to all her charges, she has a particular soft spot for a young dingo called Sue.

As disturbing news arrives of a pandemic sweeping the country, Jean realises this is no ordinary flu: its chief symptom is that its victims begin to understand the language of animals — first mammals, then birds and insects, too. As the flu progresses, the unstoppable voices become overwhelming, and many people begin to lose their minds, including Jean’s infected son, Lee. When he takes off with Kimberly, heading south, Jean feels the pull to follow her kin.

Setting off on their trail, with Sue the dingo riding shotgun, they find themselves in a stark, strange world in which the animal apocalypse has only further isolated people from other species. Bold, exhilarating, and wholly original, The Animals in That Country asks what would happen, for better or worse, if we finally understood what animals were saying.

"A game-changing, life-changing novel." CERIDWEN DOVEY

"Deliriously strange, blackly hilarious, and completely exhilarating." JAMES BRADLEY

"Engrossing, subversive, and surprisingly profound." J.P. POMARE©2020 Laura Jean McKay Absurdist Animals Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Science Fiction
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I heard this book reviewed on Radio 4 so I decided to buy it, despite the mixed reviews. I enjoyed it as it is different. It explores what might happen if animals/humans could communicate, but that’s where the similarity between Dr.Doolittle ends. However I wasn’t totally engrossed and had to go back a few times. If you don’t like bad language don’t listen, but if you don’t mind if it is in context and fits the character, read on. The writer/narrator is Australian, I felt this was right for the book. It has an inconclusive ending which I found sad, but all in all, a good listen.

Something a bit different

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What a heart wrenching and funny story. So delicately written, so much nuance. And funny! This had everything I love in a book. Perfect narration (by the author herself!), perfect story. I still feel emotional a day after it finished. I am looking at my dog with a fresh pair of eyes today.

Best book I’ve listened to in a long time

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An unusual first person narrative, a bush granny with boots as big as her mouth into which any intoxicant is poured, so her actions lose their bearings, over and over on her cackhanded journey to be with her kin, as the world becomes both easier and far harder to understand.

Entertaining eye opening and painful

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loved this thought provoking book . found myself fully immersed in this wonderful book

awsomely strange and gripping

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I really like the theme. It's something I've not encountered before and certainly the raw dialogue helps a lot bring authenticity to the story.

I don't want to add anything to the summary. But I will describe the book as brutal, raw, animalistic, increasingly depressing, but also, quite importantly too, original.

My only caution to readers is that for an audiobook you need to stop and focus on the story. This isn't a book I'd recommend to listen to while doing chores.

Raw and original

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