Extinctions

September 15, 2018
A stodgy, miserable, retired engineering professor in an Australian senior village finds that his world, seemingly in the last stages of crumbling into nothingness, is completely reinvented.Winner of the 2017 Miles Franklin Literary Award, a prestigious Australian prize, Wilson's (Cusp, 2005) quiet, gorgeously put-together novel opens by introducing professor Frederick Lothian, a rather unlikable man spending what seems to be the last scene of his final act in a detestable "villa" into which he has stuffed the detritus of his life. A partial inventory: a tubular Breuer chair, a Braun turntable, Saarinen tulip chairs and matching oval table, a million memories of bridges, airport terminals, skyscrapers, and blueprints, the remains of a lifelong obsession with form and function. (Images of many of these things are reproduced in the text.) Also crowding the scene are unwashed dishes, abandoned meals, and more painful memories than it seems possible to bear, all founded on a childhood tragedy which remains buried until the end of the book. Having had a beautiful, kind, infinitely tolerant wife, Martha, and two fine children, Lothian has lost them all, Martha to death, his grown daughter and son in other ways. He has done everything possible to avoid meeting his neighbors, but whether he likes it or not, the green-eyed woman next door with the dozens of annoying pet birds is coming into his life. Jan is a fantastic character, and it will take all the wit, insight, patience, and, ultimately, exasperation she can muster to pry this old nut from his shell. The metaphorical layering with regard to extinctions--the ends of things--is beautifully accomplished, and a wide variety of other interesting matters--the treatment of women in engineering school and patriarchal families, of Aboriginals in Australian society, of old people in retirement villages--engages as well. The various sad backstory details about old deaths, betrayals, and other wounds are teased out slowly and patiently, but that momentum is no greater than the more uplifting one: the unforeseen, truly magical opening of possibilities for growth, change, reconciliation, happiness.A really fine, deeply intelligent book with so much to think about and so much unexpected hope.

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September 24, 2018
Wilson’s American debut artfully portrays the nuances of death and extinction through its characters’ reluctant self-examinations. Sixty-nine-year-old Frederick Lothian resents living in a retirement village near Melbourne, but his wife has died, and although his daughter, Caroline, lives nearby, she often travels to gather material for an exhibit of extinct animals. Frederick and Caroline are both submerged in regrets about their family’s disconnections: Frederick ruing his past preoccupation with work; Caroline wondering about how she came to be adopted and the other family she has out there. Caroline is on a quest to shed light on the atrocities of human destruction on the animal kingdom (such as the American bison), while Frederick’s own history as an engineer, professor, husband, and father provides grist for a disturbing journey of self-reflection, even as he tries to resist: “Why was he digging up what was done when he’d just have to go bury it again?” Frederick’s introspection is shaken by Jan, another resident of St. Sylvan Village, who is as challenging as she is helpful. Unearthing the human need to feel connection to others, this contemplative novel skillfully delves into Frederick and Caroline’s psyches, resulting in a potent depiction of loneliness and contact. Agent: Catherine Drayton, InkWell Management.

November 1, 2018

Winner of Australia's Miles Franklin Literary Award, this work focuses on Frederick Lothian, a retired engineering professor struggling to adjust to life alone in a senior housing development. When his neighbor, Jan, pushes her way into his life, he is forced to confront his past traumas and his lifelong tendency to disengage from challenging emotional situations. Recognizing too late how his behavior impacted his wife, he makes steps toward repairing his relationship with his adopted daughter and his severely brain-damaged son while also helping Jan with a difficult family situation. Fred's thought process often translates complex issues into metaphors involving architecture and design, and the book helpfully includes illustrations of many of the structures and objects referenced. Given the long-term self-centered and emotionally abusive behavior demonstrated by Fred, his transformation within the course of just over a week seems abrupt and leaves readers with some doubt as to its extended viability. A subplot involving Fred's daughter Caroline's search for her birth mother isn't given enough time to make much of an impact. VERDICT What works best here is the frank depiction of coping with loss and regret, and the lasting effects of tragedy.--Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2018
A 69-year-old, retired engineer living in Perth's St. Sylvans Estate Village, Frederick Lothian is lonely and isolated after the recent death of his wife, Martha. Frederick surrounds himself with relics of his past, filling his small home with clutter and his mind with the memories of his former life. He has little contact with his two grown children and remains determined to be unhappy and angry in his widowhood. When Frederick's neighbor Jan asks his help to move her trash cans, Frederick's life takes a very unexpected turn. Despite his avowed lack of interest in making friends, Frederick cannot resist this new pull of human contact. In turn, educated and experienced Jan plans to hold Frederick accountable for his situation and bring him back to life. Wilson (Cusp, 2005) has written a beautiful, complex story of people trying to understand where they've been and figure out what to do next. Winner of the 2017 Miles Franklin Award, Extinctions is a moving portrait of one family's secrets, missed opportunities, and hopes for another chance at life. Beautifully written, with strong, memorable characters, Wilson's latest takes readers on a deeply satisfying journey and reminds us of our power to create change.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)