Feather Man

By Rhyll McMaster

"In this beautifully written and disturbing Australian coming-of-age novel, McMaster tells the story of Sooky, who struggles to overcome her difficult childhood, the effects of which are powerfully portrayed as she moves from relationship to relationship and from Brisbane to London."--Boston Globe

"I think it's quite wonderful. Beautifully written. Engrossing and utterly involving and it does something new."--Maureen Freely

"Let me say that Rhyll McMaster is an extraordinary writer. Her prose is dazzling, poetic and thought-provoking, and this is literary fiction at its best... I have likened Rhyll McMaster to Margaret Atwood. Atwood is brilliant, but in my view McMaster is even better. Feather Man has quite rightly won literary prizes in Australia and my money is on Feather Man making the Booker Prize longlist here." --Vulpes Libris

Winner of the Barbara Jefferis Award 2008

Winner of the Glenda Adams Award for New Writing 2008

Set in Brisbane during the stultifying 1950s and moving to grubby London in the 1970s, Feather Man is about Sooky who, ignored and misunderstood by her parents, is encouraged to make herself scarce and visit Lionel, their elderly next door neighbor.

The early pages of Feather Man are full of images of suburban life in Brisbane in the 1950s. The Thor washing machine thunders away. A kookaburra is perched on the oven door. Sooky's mother is often chained to the treadmill of her sewing machine. The novel follows Sooky through four relationships with men and her entry into the art world, but the truth is, she is never able to survive unless a relationship is providing the context, however bad it may be.

My hands still gripped his shoulders. I felt the bat wings of hair that ran across his back. He pushed his face close to mine. I looked at his eyes. They were remarkable, glassy, with yellow rays, but now they had a white glare in them, as if I was looking up close into the tunnel of a turned-on torch.
'Whose girl are you?' He gave my shoulders a shake.
'I'm nobody's girl. I'm me.'

Rhyll McMaster, born in 1947, started writing poetry whilst a child. Washing the Money won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award and the Grace Leven Prize. Feather Man is her first novel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0714531480
• ISBN13: 9780714531489
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Marion Boyars Publishers
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.2" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

No Art Without Suffering

Sooky, a clever as all-get-out smart-alec, had distant parents when she was young, and soon became attached to an older neighbor man in more than one way. His frequent molestations of her made her dependent on his sexual attention, which he stopped giving after she started to mature. Starved by attention by now all of the adults who had previously given it to her, she is plagued by emotional problems that she is ironically very aware of, and channels them into her highly original art. Written with a prose that is often highly lyrical and poetic, and which comes as no surprise from poet McMaster, "Feather Man" is one of the newest ideas to come into the world of novels, with a fresh vibe and an insane story, it takes you into the 40's and 50's London Art Scene through the eyes of a demented genius, though it is not at all overdone.

`I run inside my head and stand at bay.'

This is the story of a girl nicknamed Sooky. While readers can work out her real name, it isn't actually used in the text until nearly the end of the book. This use of a nickname is in many ways the key to the story. Who is Sooky? Sooky is largely defined through a series of relationships. Growing up in the suburban Brisbane of the 1950s, her childhood is defined by an abusive relationship with a male neighbour, her hero worship of his son and a sense of alienation as her parents reject each other and Sooky herself. Sooky's sense of self is battered and wounded by the time she travels to London in the 1970s. Sooky makes some questionable decisions and at times exhibits appalling judgement. Yet it is difficult not to feel at least some sympathy for her as she strives to find her own way in a world that has not generally been supportive and where many seek to stifle her individuality. `It is always a mistake to show your throat to the snarling teeth.' Rhyll McMaster is an accomplished poet. This is her first novel and while the world it creates is a dark place, it is full of evocative imagery and humour. It is not a light read but it is a rewarding one. Those of us, who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s (especially in suburban Australia) will recognise many of the descriptions of household life. Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Gorgeously written debut novel

Feather Man, by Rhyll McMaster, is the coming of age story of Sooky, an only child who lives in Brisbane, Australia with parents who seem to be too distracted with fighting their own demons - and each other - to pay much attention to Sooky. Her parents are inattentive and generally impatient and as a result, she spends a lot of time with the new neighbor, Lionel. A strange, unhealthy relationship develops between Sooky and the elderly Lionel. Despite the fact that her mother encourages her to spend time with Lionel and his wife, Sooky eventually pretty much ceases contact with them. Sooky's parents divorce, leaving her mother bitter and disillusioned and her father unavailable when he moves away to live with another woman. In high school, Sooky becomes increasingly interested in painting, and a true creative talent emerges. Whether it is because of her unhealthy relationship with her parents, or what happened with Lionel, or some combination of both, Sooky seems to drift through life in a fog of emotional disquiet and unhappiness. She has trouble forming healthy relationships. Sooky eventually falls in love with Lionel's son, Redmond and follows him to London. By now it is the 1970's. Her relationship with Redmond plays out against the backdrop of the London art scene. He does not treat her well and Sooky struggles to keep a balance between placating the demanding man she thinks she loves, and pursuing the only thing that has ever made her truly happy - her art. McMaster is an amazing writer. Her prose is pitch-perfect - in the whole of this book, there is not an extraneous word. This story has a very substantial feel, due primarily to McMaster's painstaking character development. From the first page, the reader is truly inside Sooky's head, and comes to know her intimately. I wanted so badly for everything to turn out well for her, for her to overcome her past, to be happy. Despite the fact that Sooky disliked her mother quite intensely, I found her to be somehow endearing. Yes, her mothering skills were somewhat lacking, she was distant, negative, even harsh. I felt that much of her personality was attributable to the times - it was the 1950's and there wasn't much a woman could do if she found herself in a bad marriage, except grumble and complain. I must say, much of the grumbling and complaining was downright hilarious. Sooky reviled everything about her mother, to a fault; at times it seemed extreme and unwarranted. I wanted her to set aside her resentment toward her mother, and see that under that harsh veneer was a woman who cared about her and could have been Sooky's ally in a lonely world. This is not a light or particularly fast-paced read. But if you're looking for a book with real substance and excellent character development I think you'll enjoy this. If you liked Behind the Scenes at the Museum, by Kate Atkinson, I'm sure you'll like Feather Man - the novels feel very similar. They are both coming of a

Coming Of Age Story

Feather Man, by Rhyll McMaster, is a classic coming of age story. The narrator of the story is Sooky, an only child who lives in Brisbane, Australia. As a child, she is ignored by her parents, and sexually abused by the old man next door. She grows up yearning for someone to love and value her. Repeatedly, she turns to the people who abuse her, hoping that if she is good enough, they will love her. She keeps fighting for strength to overcome her demons and her past abuse. Because of her difficult childhood, Sooky struggles in her adult relationships with men. They are self-destructive and abusive. She eventually finds art and painting a solace. Rhyll McMaster is an amazing writer. The character of Sooky is someone with whom we can all identify with. We not only feel her pain but also her emotional detachment, which is a result of her past abuse. There is much for discussion here, especially with the compexities of the father-daughter relationship. The ending of Feather Man would also allow for a wonderful book club debate. This is not a light or particularly fast-paced read. But, if you're looking for a book with real substance and excellent character development, I think you'll enjoy Feather Man.

Great debut

Rhyll McMaster's first novel is the turbulent coming of age story of Sooky, a young girl who lives in Brisbane, Australia at the start of her narration. Not long into the novel, she recounts an instance of sexual abuse at the hands of her adult neighbor, family friend, and amateur chicken farmer, Lionel, which sets the tone for the types of unhealthy and abusive relationships she will encounter throughout her life. Sooky's quarrelsome parents are blind to the instances of abuse, and as their interaction with their daughter increasingly consists of ignoring or berating her, Lionel's abuse morphs into welcome attention in the young girl's mind. When Sooky intimates that she "suffered people-burnout at an early age," it is not difficult to see why. As she matures and eventually relocates to England in hopes of becoming a professional artist, Sooky struggles in nearly all of her relationships, particularly those that include men. Although she is often the victim in such relationships, Sooky's sympathetic situation does not absolve her from perpetuating unhealthy alliances. She comes to believe that "simple pleasures are for inferior people," and seems determined to break ties with any benevolent figure in her life. After encountering no shortage of narcissistic, manipulative characters, Sooky herself has acquired these traits and manages to shun seemingly successful relationships while pining over Lionel's equally troublesome son, Redmond. Although Sooky is plagued by an inordinate number of volatile, abusive situations, McMaster imbues the novel with a dry humor that can induce actual laughter despite the largely bleak subject matter. It is occasionally difficult to sympathize with Sooky, and her decisions can be frustrating, but she is an intelligent, reflective character who is self-deprecating and witty. While she may be guilty of some of the behavior she abhors in others, Sooky's actions are often a painful reminder of the abuse she endured. Early in the story, McMaster writes that Lionel robbed Sooky of the "mundane, unexamined happiness of ordinary life," and despite her faults, one hopes that Sooky, having mastered the art of examining her life, finds some inkling of happiness even when she doubts that she wants it for herself.