Synopsis
Set on a coastal stretch of Western Australia, Tim Winton's stunning collection of connected stories is about turnings of all kinds — changes of heart, slow awakenings, nasty surprises and accidents, sudden detours, resolves made or broken. Brothers cease speaking to each other, husbands abandon wives and children, grown men are haunted by childhood fears. People struggle against the weight of their own history and try to reconcile themselves to their place in the world. With extraordinary insight and tenderness, Winton explores the demons and frailties of ordinary people whose lives are not what they had hoped.
The New York Times - Polly Shulman
For all their brutality and sudden death—the drownings, car crashes, even shark attacks; the beatings and maimings—these stories have an austerity as lofty as the weather on this wild coast, and as capable of surprises.