Birnam Wood is a psychological thriller from the New Zealand writer Eleanor Catton, Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries. Birnam Wood is a leftist, guerrilla gardening collective fronted by charismatic Mira and run by under-appreciated Shelley. On the surface, the group makes decisions by committee and runs in a flat hierarchy. But really the group leader is Mira, who is much admired by the group, along with her sidekick Shelley, who actually does all the admin, paperwork, social media accounts, and finances. Shelley is looking to get out. But a few unfortunate incidents collide and scupper her plans.
First, there is a landslide on New Zealand’s South Island that has cut off the town of Thorndike, leaving a sizeable piece of land abandoned. It’s owned by newly knighted Sir Owen Darvish and his wife Lady Jill, which is how, through news reports, Mira discovers her opportunity to guerrilla plant huge gardens on the abandoned property. The group is not involved in her decision.
Second, on a reconnaissance mission to the property Mira meets American billionaire Robert Lemoine, who is in the process of buying the property (sale not yet complete). Lemoine is devious and is secretly mining in the national park adjacent to the property. He doesn’t divulge this to Mira but instead presents her with the opportunity to be his investment project. Lemoine is offering Birnam Wood 10K to see what they can do with the, as of yet unsanctioned, garden. It seems legit to Mira, who is secretly hoping that the funding will appease Shelley and keep her on board, but who is also afraid the group will vote against the proposal given that they are essentially against capitalists.
Third, Tony Gallo arrives on the scene. Tony is Mira’s long-lost love. They hooked up on his last night in town before he ventured off to make his name as a journalist in South America. Tony has returned to New Zealand, not a hero, but still has his activist sensibilities intact. Tony arrives at the hui (the meeting) where, unbeknownst to him, Mira is going to introduce the Thorndike project. Everything goes off script. Tony insults another member of Birnam Wood, he’s an arse in his monologue about politics and gender and is on his heels when Mira arrives late to the meeting, is surprised to see him, and blurts out the announcement. Tony then rallies ardently against the project, and subsequently finds himself kicked out of the group.
That puts into motion a tragic series of events as Mira, Shelley and the group go up to Thorndike and get embroiled in murder, environmental destruction, and the covert operations of the enigmatic billionaire.
There is a lot of drama in this novel, especially in the third part. And nobody wins in the end. Birnam Wood is about greed, avarice, pride, lust, envy — maybe it’s all seven sins! Mira, Shelley, Tony and Robert all demonstrate actions that are based on pride. Robert is certainly a greedy liar whose desire for wealth colours all his actions. He’s the most gluttonous of the lot, not necessarily for food and drink but for stuffing his pockets. Mira and Tony lust after each other. Mira and Shelley lust after Robert. There’s certainly selfish and resentful feelings of envy felt by Mira, Shelley, and Tony. Anger and wrath are felt by Mira, Shelley, Tony, Robert, Owen and Jill. But sloth–hard to fit this into the story. There is some apathy on Mira’s part–take the money, take the lazy route out. Tony definitely fails to use his talents. The book copy describes Birnam Wood as Shakespearean in its drama, and Austenian in its wit. So maybe there’s more to the Macbeth reference than I initially thought.
Anyway, I found the New Zealand references to personality and culture really interesting and the novel as a whole was disturbing. A perfect thriller.