Emmy said "We'll just love this baby, okay?" but then Emmy went away. Matt had loved Emmy, with her freckled, luminous body; he had loved the way she hadn't given a damn for anything, the way she had climbed on the roof of the church tower and kissed and kissed him. The way she had fallen into the river just to know what it felt like. He had loved the way she'd said to her parents "We'll just love it, okay?" He had remembered believing that loving Mahalia would be enough.

Set in the author's native Australia, this is the companion book to Little Wing, Emmy's story. Matt, left alone with five month old Mahalia, strives to be the best father he can to her. Emmy, after slowly fading in interest and energy toward Matt and Mahalia, is gone. Unable to cope, she gets on a bus to her godmother's house one day and doesn't come back. Life is not easy for young dad Matt, nor for baby Mahalia. But they manage. Leading an impoverished, thoughtful and some would say Bohemian existence, they wander through their days together, which are beautifully described with tender detail. A few months on, after braving teething, sleepless nights and extreme poverty together, the bond between father and daughter is unbreakable.

One day, however, Emmy is there on the doorstep. Communications from her have been few and far between and Matt has, for the most part, banished her from his mind and heart. To Mahalia, Emmy is nothing more than a friendly stranger. But Emmy is still Mahalia's mother. And she wants Mahalia back...

Lovely stories, written with exceptional sensitivity and attention to detail. A unique and original twist on the teenage-parent genre, depicting situations which any parent can relate to, and any reader will be enthralled by.

2008-05-26