Good Reads Review: The Albatross by Nina Wan
This book was provided courtesy of Pan Macmillan Australia, with an accompanying interview with Nina Wan featured on the literary podcast Date With A Debut in May 2023. I have not received any rewards or compensation for this review and therefore all views and opinions are of my own, the reviewer.
Mild spoilers below.
Nina Wan has said that she wanted to create an ‘Asian Mr. Darcy’ with her debut novel, The Albatross. That, she has.
This novel, told from the point of view of our protagonist, Primrose is a story about secrets, the challenges of life, whether first love can be rekindled, and golf. When we meet her, she is desperate to find any sort of calm in her life and, against all the odds, finds it on the rundown Whistles golf course, scheduled for demolition.
Having supported her husband Adrian through an intense battle with cancer, the effect of this has shown its wear and tear on their relationship - with Prim quietly and anxiously cleaning the house and Adrian struggling to reconnect with her. Add to this, an old flame in Peter moving across the road, and you find a protagonist torn between the duty to make her life work, and the desire to rediscover love in her life again.
The strength of this novel really lies in the complicated characters Wan has crafted - Prim is complex, sometimes even distant, and occasionally unlikeable to the reader. Her daughter Bebe can read her like a book, however, and is one of the real joys of the novel.
Peter, himself married, has also been marked by life, and how he presents himself also fits into many subtexts and themes around the Asian migrant experience in Australia. In addition to Adrian, Primrose has a complex relationship with her parents and Adrian’s brother Terence, who is set to arrive and visit them towards the book's climax.
Wan also has a great eye for beautiful prose, with several fantastic passages saying so much with so little. The scenes on Whistles are the best part of the story, as Primrose strikes up several great relationships and illustrates why the sport has such an appeal to the uninitiated.
The novel occasionally stumbles when it comes to the story, detouring on several occasions, such as on a birthday weekend that, while it has several key moments in the story, felt meandering on occasion. However, as more secrets are revealed to the reader, you come to see why Primrose is so tightly wound and has turned to this unique method to cope.
Mild spoilers ahead, but the climax of the book also leaves several threads hanging in the air - to some it may be frustrating, but for me, given the nature of the journey and the connection between this book and the aforementioned Jane Austen novel, it also felt right for a character like Primrose who, more than anything else, is learning to be herself.
The Albatross challenges and asks questions about love, memory, and recovering from trauma, both personally and generationally. Nina Wan is a talent to watch with this intriguing debut.
3.5/5
Booktopia: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/xkLQVk
Angus & Robertson: https://angusrobertson.4tqiav.net/QjK9G9
Date With A Debut Podcast episode with Nina Wan: https://spoti.fi/3DOLxnf
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