A man (usually a king) has a beautiful daughter of marriageable age. In order to marry her, a prospective suitor must complete a test (or series of tests) to prove his worth as a son-in-law and husband.
In Eucalyptus, author Murray Bail spins the same old story, with a rather unusual twist: the stand-in for the king is a ranch-owner in rural Australia who has planted hundreds of different varieties of Eucalyptus trees on his property, and any man who wished to win the hand of his bewilderingly lovely daughter Ellen would have to identify the proper name for each of the trees.
The real charm of Eucalyptus is that it integrates a collection of short stories into its structure without disrupting the flow of the novel itself. One of the suitors is a storyteller, and his tales, inspired by the exotically named trees, tell about everyday people facing strange circumstances, sad events and bizarre twists of love and friendship.
Bail does a terrific job writing a story that maintains a gentle, relaxing pace without ever losing its drive or sense of purpose. But more impressively, his subtle, reserved style brings to life an enormously broad, intoxicating and believable vision of Australia itself. Combined with a remarkable ability to integrate many small narrative gems into the greater context of his story arc, Bail has created a work well worth visiting and a romance that purchases its considerable charm with the currency of restraint and passionate understatement.
— James Norton (jim@flakmag.com)
Eucalyptus