Melanie Cheng’s novel The Burrow is the most moving book I have read all year, an exploration of grief both eloquently and elegantly told.
Booklist wrote of the book:
“Through restrained and subtle writing that never reveals too much, this novel entices readers to recognize grief’s paradoxically discreet nature.”
In her own words, here is Melanie Cheng’s Book Notes music playlist for her novel The Burrow:
The Burrow follows a family ravaged by grief after a senseless tragedy. Jin, Amy and Lucie have withdrawn into themselves and their sorrow and in so doing, have lost connection with each other and the world around them. The potential for healing arrives in the form of a pet rabbit—a prey animal who, in spite of being constantly alert for predators, is still capable of relaxing in a pocket of sunshine. But it also arrives in the form of music. Indeed, at the beginning of the book, ten-year-old Lucie talks about how her grieving parents have abandoned song: “They don’t even listen to music anymore. Sometimes, when mum gets stuck writing her book, she’ll play the piano, but it’s always those really soft, sad songs and she stops after a few minutes”. The Lee family are left to encounter music by accident, almost as reluctant recipients, when they are in the car and tuned in to the radio. And yet, these are also the moments when Amy and Jin are the most reflective and nostalgic, when they are most likely to be moved to tears—of sadness, of course, but also of joy.
Saint Saens: Carnival of the Animals — Kangourous (Kangaroos)
When Jin is driving home from picking up the rabbit, he hears The Carnival of the Animals playing on the radio. The Carnival of the Animals is a musical suite of 14 movements composed by Camille Saint-Saens in the early 20th century. It was created to entertain and amuse and Saint-Saens actually banned its performance during his lifetime because he thought its lightness and comedic nature would damage his reputation as a serious musician. Ironically, after his death, The Carnival of the Animals became one of his most popular compositions. I have chosen the Kangaroo movement here because my book is set in Australia and because the leaps and bounds of a kangaroo bear some similarity to the hops of a rabbit, albeit on a less grand scale.
The Police: Every Breath You Take
Amy recalls how after the tragedy, she was unable to cry. She would try to make herself weep by inflicting physical pain on herself but it was impossible — she was numb. And yet, now, years later, she finds herself crying easily and at the most ridiculous things. When she is driving, for instance, a sentimental song like Every Breath You Take might be playing on the radio and it will tap into some long-forgotten memory of a first kiss and she will find herself overcome with nostalgia for that time of innocence—for that precious time before the tragedy.
Robert Schumann: Traumerei
This is an example of one of the “really soft, sad songs” that Lucie said her mother would sometimes play on the piano. Traumerei means daydreaming in German and is the best known piano piece from Schumann’s collection Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood). Schumann apparently gifted the collection to his fiancé, Clara, in response to her comments that he often seemed “like a child”. I’ve included it because it was one of the pieces I loved to play on the piano when I was growing up and because Lucie in The Burrow spends much of her time in a daydreaming state.
Earth, Wind and Fire: September
In a pivotal scene of the book, Lucie and her grandmother, Pauline, put on a disco party during the COVID lockdown. It is a much-needed moment of levity and joy in a household that has been mired in grief for so long. In preparation, Amy, Lucie and Pauline compile a playlist. The resulting eclectic mix is reflective of the differing musical tastes of three generations. Pauline’s choices include songs from the Bee Gees and Earth, Wind and Fire. I have chosen September because it is a personal favourite!
Ornette Coleman: Ramblin’
One night, Jin gets called back to work at the hospital. As he drives, he listens to some jazz on a community radio station. It is “the kind of amelodic agitated jazz that he ordinarily found tedious. Tonight, however, it suited his mood.” As I wrote this, I was imagining the music of Ornette Coleman, a pioneer of the free jazz movement—a genre that abandoned harmony in preference for improvisation and experimentation. I love the serendipity of radio (which we don’t get with personalised algorithms and Spotify playlists). Jin would never have sought out Ornette Coleman’s music and yet, at this particular moment of his life, it speaks to his soul.
Bright Eyes: Art Garfunkel
Lucie and Pauline bond over the pet rabbit, but they also bond over the childhood classic novel, Watership Down, which they read together. In 1978, Watership Down was adapted for the screen and the song Bright Eyes was written by Mike Batt for the soundtrack. Art Garfunkel performed it and the song appeared on Garfunkel’s 1979 album, Fate for Breakfast. The inspiration for Bright Eyes came from Mike Batt’s father who was dying from cancer at the time, and Batt described the recording of the song as one of the “most difficult sessions” of his career. Bright Eyes was also one of the first songs I learnt how to play on the piano, and it was taught to me by my favourite music teacher, Mrs Marshall, who also sadly died from cancer at a horrifyingly young age.
Debussy: Clair de lune
If there was a piece of music that could encapsulate the complexity and range of human emotion felt by the characters in The Burrow—or indeed any human being—then it would have to be Debussy’s masterpiece, Clair de lune. It is both melancholic and joyous. It is both agitated and tranquil. I dare anybody to listen to it and not be affected. Like all brilliant music, it has the power to transform even the most mundane of moments into something profound.
Melanie Cheng is an award-winning author and doctor based in Melbourne, Australia. Her writing has been published in the Guardian, The Age, The Saturday Paper, and The Big Issue, among many others.