Pheasants Nest
Louise Milligan
Allen & Unwin, 2024
Content and trigger warning for violence, sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape, and death.
Louise Milligan has spent most of her writing life as a journalist and her debut novel describes the life of Kate Delaney, well-known around Melbourne for her insightful, compassionate reporting from a range of crime scenes.
One night, she is out with her friends when a man comes on to her – she rejects him and insults him. He is enraged and waits for her to leave the bar and then stalks her, rapes and kidnaps her, eventually dumping her at Pheasants Nest on the outskirts of Sydney.
While this story is the bleak reality for too many women, including Jill Meagher who was murdered in a similar way in a Melbourne laneway in 2012, the vivid individuality of Kate shines through this story.
It is also the story of her devoted boyfriend, Liam, who despite initially being the prime suspect in Kate’s abduction, never stops looking for her. Unfortunately, the Victorian police officer who blames him has reason to suspect the boyfriend first, considering the rate of intimate partner violence in this country, but also overlooks some significant exonerating information.
Louise Milligan also considers the complex PTSD suffered by police who must investigate the loss of so many people, in this case officer Peter D’Ambrosio, who desperately wants to find Kate alive and undertakes the mission to do so.
Despite her lack of agency in this story, Kate is never a victim. Her engaging personality is compellingly conveyed on every page.
Interestingly, Milligan also affords the perpetrator some humanity. She can convey a sense of his flawed ego and background, without making him overly sympathetic.
Pheasants Nest, a deeply traumatising locale in Western Sydney, is an apt title for such a difficult yet compelling tale that considers many of the current realities of our society.
