Four girls, collectively referred to as ‘The Cins’ attend an excursion in the Australian bush before going missing. Their male teacher runs after them, but also fails to return. Wing by Nikki Gemmell details the inner musings of their elite private school principal, who has a complicated relationship with each of those now missing.
The plot idea is strong, where it was described as an amalgamation of ‘Promising Young Woman’ and ‘The Picnic at Hanging Rock’. An Australian missing person’s case combined with feminist themes, the intricacies of friendship, career progression no matter the cost and of course, a patriarchal male.
These themes are discussed consistently throughout the novel. Each character in the book acts as a launch pad for a certain type of woman, “a throwback to another era when the female existed as the lamp to illuminate the male.”
Cin, the schoolgirls ringleader, is painted as the ultimate new age feminist; earthy, vocal and sharp tongued, while exuding masculinity. “Raising Cin is like trying to hang on to the tail of a kite as it soars into the air,” Gemmel writes, “into new worlds and new adventures.” Elle is the annoying sheep who lacks audacity. Tamsin is, “the ice queen who never speaks,” and comes from an empty home with wealthy, self-obsessed parents. Willa appears to be the only female character in the book which the narrator does not find annoying, perhaps because she is polite and pliable without being obstructive.
Tony Breen, The Cins teacher, is shrouded in old-school misogyny but remains on the roster because he is helpful. A man who everyone knows is a bad influence, yet by virtue of being a seemingly harmless mediocre white man, can still hang around. The blurb had me hooked, but the excitement stopped there for me. The novel is written in the second person, which created a one-dimensional view of the plot. The only perspective is isolated to the school principal, which made the novel sound like a drawling monologue lacking in external perspective. At times, I found it far too intimate. Yes, the principal was also the godmother of the it-girl Cin, but the entire novel acts as a love letter to Cin herself.
The lack of omni-present narration is further enhanced through minimal dialogue (only a few paragraphs contained direct quotes from other characters in the novel). The use of second person narrative resulted in reduced dramatic tension and an anti-climax at the height of the plot. I was disappointed.Overall, the novel tackled incredibly relevant and prominent themes with a great story idea. However, its lack of character perspective and ending fell a little flat for me.
Rating: 2/5
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