The Hummingbird Effect

By: Kate Mildenhall

Narrated by: Anthea Greco

An epic, kaleidoscopic story of four women connected across time and place by an invisible thread and their determination to shape their own stories, from the acclaimed author of The Mother Fault.

Shortlisted for the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2024
Longlisted for the Stella Prize and Indie Book Awards 2024
Sydney Morning Herald Best Reads of the Year for 2023

One of the lucky few with a job during the Depression, Peggy’s just starting out in life. She’s a bagging girl at the Angliss meatworks in Footscray, a place buzzing with life as well as death, where the gun slaughterman Jack has caught her eye – and she his.

How is her life connected to Hilda’s, almost a hundred years later, locked inside during a plague, or La’s, further on again, a singer working shifts in a warehouse as her eggs are frozen and her voice is used by AI bots? Let alone Maz, far removed in time, diving for remnants of a past that must be destroyed? Is it by the river that runs through their stories, eternal yet constantly changing – or by the mysterious Hummingbird Project, and the great question of whether the march of progress can ever be reversed?

Propulsive, tender and engrossing, this genre-bending novel is a feast for the heart as well as the mind and senses. For fans of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, Michelle de Kretser’s The Life to Come and Jennifer Egan’s The Candy House, it confirms Mildenhall as one of the most ambitious and dynamic writers in the country.

'Kate Mildenhall is such an exciting writer to read … This generous, playful novel speaks to themes of climate change, survival and holding space for each other, as well as the enduring power of female friendship.' The Guardian

‘Spellbinding, genre-defying, and powerful in its vision of the future … The Hummingbird Effect is a devastating novel that exposes the ways the future is seeded in the past.’ Australian Book Review

Critic reviews

'Cormac McCarthy meets Geraldine Brooks, Peter Carey meets Elizabeth Gilbert, The Hummingbird Effect is an ambitious, defiant, electrifying juggernaut. Kate Mildenhall cements her status as a titan of Australian literature by raising the bar to dizzying heights. An incredible achievement. I didn’t want it to end.' (Chris Flynn, author of Mammoth)

'I loved this book. It is urgent and questioning, concerned but ultimately hopeful. The writing remembers our past, honours our present and imagines our future. It is often sublime and sometimes astonishing. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know.' (Pip Williams, author of The Bookbinder of Jericho)

'Kate Mildenhall orchestrates this shape-shifting novel with extraordinary flair. Her imaginative range is astonishing. The Hummingbird Effect is audacious fiction that engages wisely and tenderly with pressing concerns.' (Michelle de Kretser, author of Scary Monsters)

'Original, mind-bending and beautifully written. These characters, connected across time and place, are absolutely alive on the page. Together, their stories reveal the reverberating consequences of violence for us and our planet, and the redeeming power of love – in all its forms.' (Inga Simpson, author of Willowman)

'This book digs deep into the universality of love, family, hardship, sisterhood, plague, disruption and, above all, connection and empowerment. Experimental, mind-bending, provocative.' (Karen Viggers, author of The Lightkeeper’s Wife)

'A timeless and timely exploration of our capacities to destroy and to love, and of the stories that connect us – and might even save us. In this powerful and dazzling book, Kate Mildenhall brilliantly pushes language to its limits and asks, What’s worth saving? The Hummingbird Effect is an urgent, gorgeous, thrilling, page turner. A must read!' (Sarah Sentilles, author of Stranger Care: A Memoir of Loving What Isn’t Ours)

'A stunning and intricate novel, masterfully braiding the lives of its characters across time. Vivid, inventive, tender – a beautifully rendered mosaic of a book. With luminous prose linking past and future, The Hummingbird Effect is brilliant storytelling at its best.' (Else Fitzgerald, author of Everything Feels Like the End of the World)

‘Reading The Hummingbird Effect is like navigating rapids: you don’t know what’s going to happen next or when you’re going to come up for air. A remarkable achievement. I couldn’t put it down.’ (Sophie Cunningham, author of This Devastating Fever)

'Such an astounding and accomplished novel. It was an absolute joy to read. Simply put, I loved it.' (Sarah Winman, author of Still Life)