Eva Hornung

"Desde Rómulo y Remo hasta Mowgli y Tarzán, los niños salvajes han sido un tema recurrente tanto en la literatura como en la mitología popular. Inspirándose en el reciente caso de Ivan Mishukov -un niño moscovita que vivió con una manada de perros callejeros durante dos años-, la premiada escritora australiana Eva Hornung se adentra en el frondoso y cautivador territorio que comparten hombre y animal con asombroso realismo y una visceral sensualidad totalmente convincente.
Abandonado a los cuatro años de edad, Romochka logra sobrevivir al hambre y el frío gracias a un grupo de perros sin dueño. En el oscuro sótano que les sirve de guarida, inmerso en un nuevo mundo de olores intensos, caricias y gruñidos, el pequeño crecerá sano y aprenderá con rapidez la rudimentaria vida de los canes, haciendo gala de una gran inteligencia y, sobre todo, de una sorprendente capacidad de adaptación. Años después, esas mismas cualidades serán su mejor baza para intentar volver a la sociedad.El relato de la insólita aventura de Romochka plantea una sugerente reflexión sobre la paradójica frontera que separa lo civilizado de lo salvaje. El preciso retrato de los diferentes miembros de la manada es producto de una mirada firmemente anclada en la empatía y despojada de todo sentimentalismo, y el resultado recompensará a los lectores". (Descripción editorial).… (mehr)

The residents of the separatist enclave of Wahrheit have their idyll shattered by the news of a murder-suicide by community member Matthias Orion. They are a group of German immigrants who have gathered together to await their Messiah, and are quick to blame Matthias' contact with the outside world for this shocking news.

The community lives by the Book of Seasons: prescriptions from their founder about what they should be doing at all times of the year, in order to be prepared for the coming. The founder's son, Pastor Helfgott, continues to preach to his flock but lacks his father's zeal.

Matthias' son Benedict, who discovered his dead mother and father, begins a slow descent into madness. He moves from the house to the barn, lives with the animals and neglects the farm and the strictures of the Seasons. The community avoids contact with him because they cannot deal with the enormity of what happened. Benedict subsumes his need for human contact by looking after his horses and ceases to speak. Pastor Helfgott continues to visit him and worries that his madness may become worse. But Helfgott has a deeper worry: is Benedict some sort of harbinger of the Messiah that his father foretold? And what would that mean for Wahrheit?

This is a splendid book. Parts of it reminded me of Equus in the portrayal of Benedict's relationship with his horses. It is beautifully written, with bucolic descriptions of the changes in the countryside, the farming activities and the cultural events as the seasons shift. It also captures an important element of the immigrant experience; farmers from the other side of the world adjusting to a new reality. Finally, it tells a thoughtful story of religious doubt and the blights that can hide even in the gardens of paradise.

The Last Garden has been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, and I think it would be a worthy winner.… (mehr)