This novel opens with the most horrifically imaginable scene - a man has burnt to death in the Australian outback, alone, with little shelter other than an old gravestone and no water. Who is he? How did he happen to be there? Why?
Two brothers meet at the Stockman's grave -a remote gravestone literally in the middle of nowhere. The dead man is their brother Cameron. All three are farmers on neighbouring properties, but this being Australia their houses are hours and hundred of miles apart.
The discovery of the body brings grief, anguish and lots of looking back into past history for the remaining family members. As well as the brothers, there is the mother, Cameron's wife and two young daughters.
As the novel progresses we learn more about how harsh and hostile life in the outback can be, the sheer size being incomprehensible to most UK readers. The farms cover many hundreds of thousands of acres - the size of whole counties in the UK. If you do ever visit Australia and drive through parts the endlessness of it all is astounding. Then look on a map and see how miniscule the area is that you have been through.
Life is tough, lonely and dangerous.
No foul play is discovered and as it is mentioned that Cameron had been worried in recent days, the conclusion is that he must have deliberately walked out to kill himself. Everyone agrees that the vastness of the land, loneliness of the lifestyle, lack of interaction with others, the unrelenting heat and dryness must have contributed to a suicidal state of mind.
But Cameron was the golden boy" of the three brothers, Bub (the youngest) seen as a loveable but simple soul and Nathan (the eldest) as the one tormented by his past deeds, divorced and completely alone on his own farm. But was he?
As the novel unfolds and we learn more about the family dynamics, we are led with many twists and turns to a stunning finale.
I have not ever read any books by Jane Harper before, but two previous ones were highly commended with a number of awards, so I think I will definitely be putting these on my (ever increasing) "to read" list.
No comments:
Post a Comment