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Jake Whyte is afraid, and the need to understand why is what makes this beautifully written novel a page turner – proof that pace and prose are not mutually exclusive.

Solitary ‘Jake’ lives on a bleak island in the UK with only a few head of sheep and a dog for company. That’s how she likes it. Yet Jake isn’t just a loner. She is terrified, unable to sleep, and now something is killing her sheep. Then a stranger arrives and Jake must decide if he is the stuff of her nightmares or someone with whom to share the burden of what she fled in Australia.

Jake’s fears and the reason for them are slowly revealed as the story progresses, and it is the structure through which the past emerges that makes this such a compelling read. In the early chapters some of her memories of another sheep farm are quite confronting, but it was my need to know what had happened to her that kept me reading. This is not a pretty story, but the mysteries of what is killing her sheep and why she fled Australia are well rendered. The prose is stunning. With a few strokes of ink Wylde paints lingering images. Her ear for language must be well attuned because she portrays the voices of two vastly different countries convincingly.

All the Birds Singing is a testament to the importance of structure in story. Wyld plays with your expectations and when you think you’ve got Jake figured out, a new layer of backstory is revealed. Little is told and much is shown. While this may not be for everyone, the way the story unfolds reveals Wyld as a masterful story teller.

If I could give this six stars, I would.

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