Rain Birds by Harriet McKnight | Black Inc.

Rain Birds

Book club notes

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Two birds on a branch inside a yellow silhouette of a girls face on a light pink background

About the author

Harriet McKnight

Harriet McKnight’s work was shortlisted for the 2014 Overland VU Short Story Prize, the 2015 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize, and the 2016 Overland Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize. She worked as Managing Editor …

More about Harriet McKnight



Praise for Rain Birds

‘With a delicate yet decisive hand, Harriet McKnight deftly weaves the stories of two forthright women searching for moments of stillness in an ever-changing world. Intelligent and absorbing, Rain Birds eschews sentiment in favour of clear-eyed empathy for its characters.’ –Melanie Joosten

‘Heartbreaking and real, grounded in a stunning natural environment. McKnight questions our responsibilities – to loved ones, and to places we love.’ —Inga Simpson

‘A poetic and powerful portrayal of how hard it is for humans to change – even while the world changes around us. Rain Birds is a moving meditation on the deeply intimate kinds of loss experienced within families, and the harrowing losses our entire planet is facing.’ —Ceridwen Dovey

Rain Birds is the kind of novel you will feel keenly, and think about for weeks after you’ve finished reading. McKnight is a writer to watch.’ —Ellen Cregan, Readings

‘This twinned narrative about small, personal hurts and larger environmental disasters is a well balanced, complementary act.’ —Thuy On, The Australian

Rain Birds is a riveting, smart work of fiction that will reverberate in your brain and your heart for a long while after you’ve finished the last page.’ —Jen Bowden, Westerly