1942 – Japanese bombs rain down in Darwin, Australia. Motherless Molly Hook, the gravedigger’s daughter, turns to the road, seeking the deep-country sorcerer who put a curse on her family. By her side are the most unlikely travelling companions: Greta, a razor-tongued actress, and Yukio, a fallen Japanese fighter pilot. As they journey from the vine forests to Australia’s wild and magical monsoon lands, they will encounter grave danger and discover true love…so many emotions reading this gripping historical read.

This is such a good piece of historical fiction set during WW2 centring on Japan bombing Australia. I was gripped and couldnt put this book down it was so well written with a great storyline and emotive and endearing characters. the storyline was atmospheric and dark in places as well as being full of light in others. It was heartwrenching throughout and left me feeling tearful on several occassions as the characters navigated war, grief, loss, betrayal and much much more. This book is a triumph, I loved it.

Aussie writer Trent Dalton gives us gloriously enchanting, yet brutally gritty storytelling in this piece of historical fiction, of adventure, a family drama, that embraces magical realism set during WW2 in 1942, portraying a war torn Darwin being bombed by the Japanese. At the centre of this novel is the larger than life 12 year old Molly Hook, a grave digger with her grave digging shovel, Bert. She has lost her mother who had told her to look to the sky whenever she needed her, which would provide her with all the requisite answers, and there is a copper pan with curious markings that she thinks might be a treasure map. Molly loves poetry, unfortunately residing with her father, Horace, and abusive Uncle Aubrey, men who are certainly no role models for this young girl.

Feeling she has a heart of stone, she sets out to get a family curse lifted, acquired over stolen gold, seeking Aboriginal elder, Longcoat Bob. Accompanied by the sharp witted Greta, a would be actress who had been involved with Uncle Aubrey, her shovel Bert, she embarks on a perilous adventure in the majestic Northern Territories, with all its amazing landscape, the wetlands, the flora and fauna, Molly finds herself bequeathed with another gift from the sky, a widowed Japanese pilot who would rather than die than kill others, the wonderful Yukio Miki. Dalton provides the reader with a glimpse of Australian history and insights into Aboriginal culture that is centred on connection with the natural world. This is a wondrous and tender story, written so beautifully with its lyrical prose, and with detailed and rich descriptions of the location and a well researched depiction of the impact of the war on Darwin.

This imaginative and offbeat Australian novel may not appeal to everyone, but I adored it, with its focus on the nightmarish darkness of the historical period shot through with bolts of bright light, good vs evil, love vs hate, connection vs disconnection with the earth and nature, and an all too real picture of what war means, the cost and repercussions. I found myself completely captivated and immersed in the heartbreaking narrative of hope, resilence, and survival, right from the beginning to the end, as it touched on issues of history, family, intergenerational trauma, grief, loss, love, betrayal, wounding masculinity, race, and class. I was gripped particularly by the characters of Molly and Yukio. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I needed to read this book after completely falling in love with Boy Swallows Universe. While Boy Swallows Universe is still my favourite of the two, this is still an amazing book.

This story follows gravedigger, Molly Hook, as she searches for Longcoat Bob in Australia's NT to lift a curse on her family that turns all their hearts to stone. She has been abandoned by her mother, her father and uncle are violent and hostile, and no matter how much she tries, she just cannot cry. In order to find Longcoat Bob, she follows a poem on a pan for panning gold, which her mother left her as a "gift from the sky". There are gifts from the sky throughout and appear when Molly needs help most. On top of that, she talks to the sky. The nighttime sky and daytime sky are both different, and it's only the nighttime one that can be trusted, as the daytime one tells lies.

I was in love with Violet (her mother) in chapter one and wondered how I could progress with the same love with her gone, but I did. It was her that left sky gift one, the copper pan with the poem on that she uses to search for Longcoat Bob.

Greta is her uncle's girlfriend, an amazingly developed character, with a beautiful heart. She's often described as being very beautiful of face, but luckily there's a lot more to her than that. Molly's uncle, Aubrey, beats her, and when the Japanese pilots attack, Greta and Molly leave together in search of Longcoat Bob.

Yukio, one of Molly's sky gifts, stole my heart. Yukio is a widowed Japanese pilot, struggling to bomb the people on the ground. He’d rather fly his plane into a mountain and end it all, but he finds himself in Australia's NT wetlands, which is all flat. At first, he can't understand a word Molly or Greta are saying. As the book develops, he shows certain words he understands here and there and begins to grasp more and more words. He has a wonderful backstory, a generous heart, he's selfless and incredibly brave. He carries a sword crafted by his father everywhere with him and yearns to be reunited with his late wife. This book probably wouldn't have hit the mark for me as much without him.

This book is full of darkness and full of light. Full of hate and full of love. Full of violence and also full of affection. The only issue I had with it was I believe the book could have been edited down a bit more. While the storytelling is absolutely beautiful and the imagery is incredible, I found myself zoning out at times, wanting to be pulled back into the story.