A basis for an intellectual discussion about cultural differences and societal expectations for women.
Despite her successful career as a surgeon, Dr Kate finds herself in her recently deceased mother’s home wrestling with her demons and looking towards a lonely future. In an almost God-given miracle, a priest from her past connects her with Malika, a tremendously gifted teenager from Pakistan. Malika’s mathematical talents shined so brightly in her village that her community agreed she had something to give to the world. To diminish her spark, her pseudo brother bestows a traumatic parting gift that leaves her physically altered to start her new life in Melbourne. Each weekend Dr Kate and Malika begin to accept the priest had a reason for bringing them together—they both need each other.
Dr Kate’s surgical profession plays a large role in the storyline of As Swallows Fly.There is a lot of medical jargon used throughout the novel involving surgeries and the workings of medical practices. L.P. McMahon, author of As Swallows Fly, is a professor of Nephrology at Monash University, which would likely explain the heavy emphasis on medical terms. Someone with a medical background or someone who has watched all 388 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy may understand the terms used and not have to rely heavily on a trusty dictionary.
As Swallows Fly is a character-driven book. Readers get an inside look into the protagonists’ minds, which leads to slow character development as the book progresses. There is a lot of internal processing, to the point where one could start to get overcritical of the character’s flaws. This, in turn, leads the story to move along, albeit at a tortoise pace. It is only nearing the end that the tempo of the novel escalates and that readers realise how attached they may have actually become to the characters. That’s when you know McMahon did an excellent job of building empathy towards Dr Kate and Malika. A word to the wise: have a few tissues handy in the final pages.
The teenage Malika is complex and, at times, a confounding character. Malika shows little to no emotion and is extremely rational in a way that is unbelievable to those who were once hormone-driven adolescents. She is different from all her peers in that she is the new girl, extremely intelligent, and always wears a veil to cover her face—a dangerous combination of factors that could spiral an average teenager into oblivion. Thus, the most perplexing scene involves Malika’s conniving dormmates stealthily opening her door to see if they can catch her with her veil off. When she sees them, she does not scream and shut the door in their faces. She remains rational and calm. Afterwards she does not report the intrusion to a teacher or cry into her pillow. Instead, Malika does absolutely nothing. Her reaction is completely bizarre and not what one may expect from a teenager.
Perhaps McMahon was presenting an alternative realm to his readers, one which was meant to make them think about their own societal norms. Given Malika’s Pakistani background, the author illustrated the differing emotional response of a teenager from a different culture. Malika’s reactions could be seen more as a teenage boy’s than a girl’s behaviour, as in western culture girls are more likely to be depicted as emotional and over-the-top dramatic. If Malika’s character were a teenage boy, it would have been easier to follow the rationale of her behaviour due to the gender stereotypes that currently exist in western culture. For this reason and with a few minor tweaks to the storyline, Malika’s character could have been a teenage boy from Pakistan and Malika’s part in As Swallows Fly would have been less challenging and more comforting to read.
Dr Kate is extremely frustrating and unlike Malika’s character it is not due to cultural differences. The whole book hinges on a void that she can’t put her finger on, but is constantly reminded about, especially by the presence of her pregnant friend. Despite being a successful surgeon, she still falls into the patriarchal ideal in which a woman must have children to be happy. The introduction of Dr Kate’s boss being her love interest serves as another infuriating aspect that further digs this reader into a pit of feminist rage. Is Dr Kate a relatable character? Yes, but only because her story is one that women have been fed for years–one in which women must be attracted to men in power and have a family to truly find happiness in life.
It would be interesting to see how the story would change if both main characters were male. On one hand, there are cultural differences that would make sense to those in countries like Australia. But on the other, the breaking of societal norms would make it exciting to see how a male doctor would play out in the same scenario as Dr Kate if he did not have a family and a wife (maybe an idea for a future spin off book?!). Though the analyses on the main characters may seem overcritical, McMahon does provide As Swallows Fly readers with many cerebral points about cultural differences and societal expectations to discuss long after the final page has been turned.
Reviewed by Alessa Young
This review is the opinion of the reviewer and not Glam Adelaide.
Distributed by: Ventura Press
Released: March 2021
RRP: $29.99

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