Short Review: Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

New Zealand. Photo by Match Sumaya on Unsplash

I gobbled up Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton. The novel is very much of the moment, throwing together eco-activists and rogue gardening, an American billionaire building a bolt-hole in New Zealand where he can outwait the apocalypse, and the search for rare earth minerals. A comparison with Jane Austen would not be my first thought, but Catton said on CBC Radio’s Writers and Company that she admired the British author for her focus on character-revealing dialogue rather than metaphors and similes. Birnam Wood demonstrates that homage to Austen: using a close third-person voice, Catton examines her themes through lively, believable debate and conversation, and empathetic interior monologues.

For a Canadian, there’s an extra edge. Catton was born here, but grew up in New Zealand. She’s not afraid to poke fun at the Kiwi self-image, as when a character thinks: “He was long accustomed to regarding his country as an automatic underdog, as a righteous, plucky, decent, and fundamentally good-natured contender, unfairly disadvantaged, in any instance of unflattering international comparison, by its small population, its short history, and its geographical remoteness from the great power centres of the world.” While the last phrase doesn’t fit us, I think many Canadians might find all the other descriptions chime with our self-perception. Catton notes that Kiwis often define themselves as being different from Aussies. At one time, that may have sounded familiar to any Anglo-Canadian trying to articulate what distinguishes us from our southern neighbour. However, the rise of Canadian patriotism in response to American tariffs has shown that similarities are superficial and differences are profound. The question of national identity is just one example of the many threads that Catton skilfully weaves into this compelling novel.