Music for Tigers
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley July 2, 2021
Author Michelle Kadarusman

Distributor: New South Books
ISBN: 9781772781892
Publisher: Pajama Press
Release Date: June 2021
Website: https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au
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Once again Michelle Kadarusman has crafted an epic story, Music for Tigers around conservation, acceptance and friendship set in a remote bush camp in the Tasmanian rain-forest, the Tarkine, a place of great beauty and mystery.
Louisa is passionate violinist totally focused on gaining a place in the youth orchestra and really is none too happy about being dispatched to the furthest corners of the earth, at least as far as she is concerned, to spend the summer with her Uncle. She should be at home practicing.
Even though she is greeted with what sounds like the real life version of Vivaldi’s Spring from the Four Seasons suite, she is very worried about snakes, spiders and also her Uncle, the only person waiting at the bus stop. Her first night at the bush camp is filed with dreams, a scraping, snuffling sound and rancid odour, which completely mystifies her.
Meeting her neighbours Colin and his mother who live at the Eco Lodge and specialise in Eco Tourism, begins what will turn out to be the most momentous summer for Louisa as she, her Uncle, Colin and Mel set out to discover if what they believe could be the last Tasmanian Tiger is living in the area of Convict Rock; an island in the fast flowing river, considered to be haunted.
Louisa is offered a copy of her Grandmother Eleanor’s Dairies which carefully establishes the background to the conservation of an endangered species begun by her grandmother so very long ago. As the story unfolds so too does an understanding of friendship, letting go, beginning again and acceptance.
Kadarusman has woven a story with beautiful use of language that captivates from the first sentence, as the wording immediately brings to the mind and sense, the smell and rich beauty of the Tasmanian bush along with the overwhelming awe it inspires when first discovered.
Music for Tigers contains something very special: the magic of a story well told, that not only demands to be read from cover to cover, but ensures the gently presented messages wrapped within the text remain in the memory for a long time.