This is one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read, I think I liked it? The Reading style was very different than what I was used to.

I enjoyed the ecological message of this book and it is clear the author is passionate about it. In the acknowledgements, she shared her real-life inspiration for parts of the book, which made me reflect on Pyn-Poi's journey and the price of progress and industrialization to the natural world. The author did a great job of showing how Pyn-Poi's worldview was so different from those around her and I enjoyed reading her story from different points of view.

My thanks to the publishers for a review copy via NetGalley of ‘The Night Field’ by Donna Glee Williams.

This novel is a beautifully constructed fable, set outside known time and space, that focuses upon the destruction of the environment and humankind’s relationship with nature; contrasting those peoples that honour the Earth with an authoritarian society that exploits and damages it.

In the Real the clans of the People live in harmony with nature until a creeping threat imperils their whole world as the annual rainfalls bring with them a noxious stench that begins to poison people, animals, insects, and plants alike.

The novel’s young protagonist, Pyn-Poi, feels a strong empathy with the trees, having learned from her father how to communicate with them. The distressed trees, who have their own short chapters, reach out to Pyn-Poi and urge her to climb to the land beyond the Wall, where it is believed that the Ancestors live and to seek their help.

Yet what she discovers there is nothing like anything that she could have imagined, a world and people very different to her own. Will she discover what is killing The Real? No further details to avoid spoilers.

Donna Glee Williams moves smoothly between a wide number of points of view, exploring Pyn-Poi’s life before and after her ascent of the Wall. These include a variety of people that she encounters in the town and later on the Farm, where all ‘tractees’ are forced to pick the white bolls of fibre, clearly referencing cotton fields. As noted above even the Trees that have sent her on this quest contribute to the narrative.

I loved the descriptive language used by Pyn-Poi; including of bees as whizzwings, biting insects as nibblers, and the vicious guard dogs of the Farm as fang-foes, though as she becomes used to her new life her language begins to change and she just refers to these as dogs and insects.

In her Acknowledgments Williams highlights the serious nonfictional issues that had inspired her to write ‘The Night Field’. I am very drawn to novels that feature nature, the environment, and trees, so this environmental fable proved a good fit.

Overall, I found ‘The Night Field’ powerful and moving and applaud Donna Glee Williams’ skill in creating such a memorable novel and providing a vehicle for Pyn-Poi’s story.

3.5! Pyn-Poi's story was such an interesting read. Reminded me of Moana because she is expected to be there for her tribe but her heart wants something different. I really enjoyed the ecological aspect and the importance of trees and nature itself in general.

3.5/5 Stars

A reall interesting book that tackles a lot of heavy real-world issues. Full of emotion and beautiful imagery. The pacing is a little slow. Overall enjoyable and very relevant to many ecological and environmental concerns real-world people face.