When Kelvin returns to his childhood home on the southern coast of New South Wales, he discovers the town is a haven for people like him who are on the run from their pasts. He meets Jessica, a lawyer who has escaped the city, and Carl, an enigmatic American farmer. Both are pursuing new lives and causes inspired by the extraordinary landscape around them. But Kelvin begins to see the darker side of the environmental debate when he becomes drawn into a community of anti-logging activists. As his relationship with Jessica intensifies and implodes, it provokes Kelvin to make a decision with devastating consequences for all of them. No-one is quite who they seem as, deep in these southern forests, the story builds to a dramatic climax.
Winner, 2006 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards – UTS Award for New Writing
Shortlisted, 2006 South East Asia and South Pacific Region – Best First Book
Longlisted, 2006 Miles Franklin Literary Award
Winner, 2004 Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards – Best Manuscript of an Emerging Queensland Author