Published on 12th April 2022, Unlikely Animals is a contemporary novel written by American author Annie Hartnett. She is an acclaimed writer whose work Rabbit Cake was recognized by several platforms as one of the best books of the year. While penning this second novel, the author resided in the groundskeeper’s house at a graveyard.
The spectral inhabitants of the Maple Street cemetery provide an omniscient and ever-present chorus as they solemnly tell the story. Emma Starling returns home after dropping out of medical school to care for her father Clive who is dying from a mysterious brain disease. Meanwhile, the ghost of the naturalist Ernest Harold Baynes haunts Clive. Moreover, Emma and her father go on a mission to find Crystal, Emma's childhood friend and a heroin addict missing for six months. As Clive attempts parenting before his death and Emma navigates her loss, the narrative delivers an emotionally charged journey of redemption.
The work is characterized by tenderness for a world that can be difficult and sometimes break us down. Hartnett brings out the beauty of even the most challenging moments while examining the character’s complicated relationships with grief, despair, and hope.
