REVIEW: “Forest-Sister” by Avril Mulligan

Review of Avril Mulligan, “Forest-Sister,” Luna Station Quarterly 55 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Every week when his mother goes to the market, Tom’s father sends him and his younger sister, Bib, into the forest, to find their half-sister, their forest-sister; and every day Tom has to live with the debt he owes his forest-sister.

There is a darkness to this story, which comes through in chips and pieces through the beautiful language that Mulligan deploys. It’s a story about the complexities and complications of familial relationships, and desire, and debt, and it will leave a weight upon your heart when you read it.