The Burrow

A Melbourne family struggles to move on four years after their baby’s death in the penetrating latest from Cheng (Room for a Stranger). Hoping to lighten the mood for their 10-year-old daughter, Lucie, Jin and Amy Lee get her a pet rabbit. Initially, the rabbit proves a welcome distraction, but then Amy’s estranged mother, Pauline, arrives after breaking her wrist, and the family’s tenuous harmony is undermined. Through flashbacks, Cheng hints at the circumstances of the baby’s death at six months, suggesting that Pauline bore some responsibility. Meanwhile, Pauline is struck by the family’s stagnation: the backyard is riddled with detritus from a partially completed home improvement project, and Amy seems to be incapable of providing the necessary emotional support to sensitive Lucie. To make matters worse, the Covid-19 pandemic keeps everyone but Jin, an ER doctor, housebound. Eventually, each character’s bond with the rabbit proves restorative, and a crisis point involving a break-in nudges them further along the path toward recovery. Cheng shrewdly portrays the impact of the tragedy on each family member. Readers will be moved. (Nov.)