Gunflower by Laura Jean McKay

 Book Review

Gunflower (2023)

by Laura Jean McKay

   Australian author Laura Jean McKay won the Arthur C. Clarke award for her debut novel, The Animals in That Country in 2021. That win caught my eye, and I promptly checked out a copy from the library.  It was good, not great, but interesting enough to merit attention to the author going forward.  Late last year she published her follow-up, an entirely predictable book of short-stories compiled from her previous 20 years of writing.  Some of the stories echo the themes of The Animals in That Country, an early story delves into the family dynamics of a cat ranch (Yes, a cat ranch.)  Other subjects are prosaic/banal- like the lengthy story told from the perspective of supermarket clerk who makes a stand for the rights of smokers to take their hourly smoke break.   The Guardian called this collection virtuosic but the New York Times didn't even mention it.  It did get a US release back in October but with essentially no press- the Amazon product page only has seven reviews and Goodreads has 70 ratings, basically the equivalent of many books that haven't been published.