Evie and Rhino by Neridah McMullin

Title: Evie and Rhino

Author: Neridah McMullin

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Walker Books

Published: 5^th October 2022

Format: Paperback

Pages: 272

Price: $18.99

Synopsis: A young girl with a tragic past and a rhinoceros facing life in captivity form an unlikely and magical bond after a fateful storm and a shipwreck bring them together. A moving tale about love, connection, and the healing power of friendship.

On a stormy night off the coast of southern Australia, a ship transporting a cargo of exotic animals tosses and turns in enormous seas. Rhino senses they are in grave danger. . .
Not far away, ten-year-old Evie and her grandfather shelter in their crumbling, once-grand old home. They know too well how deadly storms can be. When all is calm, Evie treks over the dunes to the sea and makes a discovery that will change her life, and Rhino’s, forever.

The tragedies of their pasts may finally be put to rest in this moving tale about love, connection, and the healing power of friendship.

~*~

Ten-year-old Evie lives in Breamlea with her grandfather, orphaned after her parents died in a shipwreck two years ago. Since then, she hasn’t spoken a word, and has spent all her time at home, exploring the coastal environment they live on in Victoria, in 1891. One day, a ship carrying exotic animals to a zoo in Melbourne is wrecked off the coast. Not long after, whilst she is exploring the coast, Evie comes across Rhino. Rhino has survived the shipwreck, and instantly forms a bond with Evie – and starts to follow her everywhere and becomes part of the family. Soon, Evie discovers more animals, and learns that someone is coming to see Rhino – and this could change things for Evie and Rhino forever. But when George Henley shows up, everything will change forever.

The latest from Neridah McMullin is a beautiful novel – something a little different to her picture books and filled with immense heart and wonder. This heartfelt story captured my imagination, and I loved Evie and Rhino – they were lovely characters, who seemed to understand each other without words – as Evie doesn’t speak for much of the novel, so she communicates with hand motions and showing her grandfather and Cook things, or through writing. The story of Evie and Rhino takes place in a small environment, so we see the world through Evie and Rhino’s eyes – we see what they see, feel what they feel, and hear what they hear – and in getting this small, insular world that they live in. We get their whole experience, and I felt like this made the novel immersive and invigorating, allowing the characters to speak for themselves as Neridah wove history and the stories about shipwrecks and exotic animals she had found around them.

I found the beauty in this story came from the way Evie and Rhino connected with each other and understood each other. Their unbreakable bond was what drove the novel as it evoked emotions and feelings that we all have whilst allowing the 1891 setting and experiences to shine through at the same time – showing in quite a stark way how different things were back then for zoos and many other things in people’s lives. It is like a tiny capsule snippet of what one girl experienced and the moments in her life that impacted her and helped her learn who she was again. The touching story is engrossing and makes you feel like you are there in Breamlea with Evie, her grandfather, and Rhino, and transports you to a time and place that feels distant and wondrous.

This beautiful story is accompanied by lovely illustrations by Astred Hicks of Evie and Rhino, of the telegrams and the letters that the characters send to each other and adds another level to the story that gives us an insight into the world that the characters inhabit. Whilst it is a slow-moving book, I think this was executed well, and it worked for the story that was being told. We didn’t need the story to be rushed in any way. It was perfect and I hope that people who pick it up enjoy it.