Judges’ Report

Melanie Cheng’s The Burrow is among those wonderful creations that continue their careful work long after the final page has been turned. Here, the power of Cheng’s craft is found in a restraint that feels almost deceptive, and certainly later reveals an artful layering. This is the story of Amy and Jin Lee, their pre-teen daughter Lucie and Amy’s mother Pauline. Pauline had a stroke while watching the couple’s second child, Ruby, in the bath. That Ruby drowned was not Pauline’s fault, but the shame and grief has done its dirty work and they are all disconnected from each other. Then the pandemic strikes, and we all know how that turned out. Set during the Covid19 pandemic, Cheng avoids the obvious isolation metaphors and instead invites the reader into a psychological study of an adopted pet rabbit, Fiver. Riffing on Kafka’s short story of the same name about a burrowing creature desperate to reinforce its subterranean labyrinth against all manner of terrors, The Burrow recreates a feeling of false security in its pages. It is not until days after finishing Cheng’s work you realise, with panic, that you’ve been afraid the whole time.