SUNBIRDS

Sunbirds depicts the intricate web of identities and loyalties created by war and imperialism, and the heartbreaking compromises that so often ensue.

On the cusp of Japanese invasion, 1941, the van Hoorn family throws their famous Sinterklaas party at their tea plantation in West Java. Normally, this is a time for dancing, jazz, gin cocktails and excess, but this year there's a prickle of dread in the air. One of the guests, Mattijs, a Dutch pilot, hopes to forge a future in the Dutch East Indies, possibly with Anna, the daughter of the house, but Anna is torn between her dreams of Holland and her desire to belong. Meanwhile the housekeeper, Diah, keenly observes the goings-on in the house, wondering how much to tell her freedom-fighter brother. When the Japanese forces finally arrive on Java's doorstep, they all have to make decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.

Sunbirds depicts the intricate web of identities and loyalties created by war and imperialism, and the heartbreaking compromises that so often ensue.

With rich emotional insight and a light touch, these wide-ranging stories reveal hidden desires and human fragility.

Mirandi Riwoe is the author of Stone Sky Gold Mountain, which won the 2020 Queensland Literary Award Fiction Book Award and the inaugural ARA Historical Novel Prize, and was shortlisted for the 2021 Stella Prize and longlisted for the 2021 Miles Franklin Literary Award, and the short story collection The Burnished Sun. Her work has appeared in Best Australian Stories, Meanjin, Review of Australian Fiction, Griffith Review and Best Summer Stories. Mirandi has a PhD in Creative Writing and Literary Studies and lives in Brisbane.