- Birnam Wood is a deeply political novel for our times. It's intellectually challenging and confronting, but utterly absorbing. It has the most mature and robust dialogue between passionate characters that I've read in a long time, something that is very rare in literary fiction. Catton never condescends.
- She offers us a penetrating scrutiny and assessment of each of her characters - their minds, hearts, talents, self-obsessions, grievances and more. It's a 'relentless interior critique' as she says at one point.
- There’s been an earthquake in Korowai National Park near the town of Thorndike in New Zealand's South Island, and the whole area has been closed off. Mira Bunting is the founder of a group of young nature-loving activists who secretly descend on deserted parks and farmlands to plant vegetables and gardens. They've named themselves Birnam Wood from Shakespeare's Macbeth.
- Mira drives to Thorndike to see the former sheep station that has been listed for sale. She is confronted by a man who's just landed on a field in a small plane. He is Robert Lemoine, an American billionaire, and founder of a large corporation that makes drones for surveillance purposes around the world. He tells her he's a 'doomsteader' and plans to build a bunker on the property to survive the 'coming apocalypse'. He's in the process of buying the farm. His real intention, however, is to secretly mine the extensive farmlands and surrounding hills for rare earth elements destined for top secret applications in defence against China. His radiometric drones have discovered them. He's seized on the opportunity to 'make trillions'.
- There's a touch of Bond villain about Lemoine. He's a bit of a caricature. But another central character in the novel becomes a counter focus to this rather silly narrative and substantially rescues it. Tony Gallo was one of the founding members of the group in its early subversive days and is the epitome of the far left. He's intellectually formidable and an aspiring investigative journalist. His anti-capitalist rants against ‘the market’ at one of the group’s quarterly meetings is nothing short of brilliant. The novel's plot has evolved into a battle of political ideas. It's the extreme woke left versus the extreme ugly right.
- At the same meeting Mira informs the collective that she's met Lemoine on the farm and that he's offered to generously fund their operations. Tony is horrified but he's outvoted. What none of them know is that Lemoine sees their work as a convenient cover for his secret mining operations. He has also compromised Mira’s phone and stolen her data. He’s quickly intruding into and taking over their lives.
- Tony is suspicious and is determined to uncover the truth. He starts researching a long investigative article. He also drives to the farm, staying out of sight, but is spotted by the drones. His life is in danger.
- Catton embarks on a fairly detailed and complex denouement, as Tony and Mira wise up to what's really happening and Lemoine takes measures to protect himself and his covert operations. To avoid spoilers I can only say that death wins out in the end. Not life or hope or one party of the political divide. Just death.
- Most reviewers have highly praised this third novel from Catton. I am a great fan of her first two The Rehearsal and The Luminaries. But although Birnam Wood is a vigorous and intellectually energising read, and on many levels highly satisfying, it's seriously flawed as well.
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