“Do we carry every experience we have had in our bodies? I think we do.” This tender story begins with a road trip into memory to the soundtrack of the narrator’s old CDs, yet it is very much a tale of today. Patrick is duty-bound to his fading mother, living a quiet life where the days pass unremarkably under the momentum of routine and expectation, until a violent incident stirs him to drive to country New South Wales, where he holidayed as a child. There he glimpses a mysterious creature and meets a compelling stranger. What follows is a poignant coming of age – and in this era of extended life cycles, it’s possible the coming of middle age is as significant as adolescence, if not more so. Featherstone’s writing is spare and understated; its frank realism exposes Patrick’s wild heart with a relatable vulnerability.
Reviewed by Kelly Blaney-Murphy.
