This
wonderful collection of thirteen short stories will intrigue and
fascinate. The writing is beautiful, and Robert Drewe's obvious
connection with the Australian landscape, especially the coastal landscape, is centre stage from the very first page. The descriptions appeal to all the
senses; take, for example, the following lines from Masculine
Shoes:
'…
This sand was like crushed pearls. What excited him as the boat drew
closer, however, was the dramatic potential of the ornately rooted
pandanus palms, lawyer vines and shadowy eucalyptus poised on the
edge of those pale sand-hills. The stark vegetation provided a
sinister backdrop to the serenity of the shore. Winter storm tides
had eaten into the dunes, and undermined trees lay toppled on the
beach all along the high-water mark... '
or,
from The Rip:
'
… Smoke from an inland bushfire met a humid mist rolling in from
the ocean in a haze of muted light across the beach. In the low
snapping waves, seashells rattled and chinked like coins... '
At
times, there is humour layered between the sadness of relationships
gone wrong and the problems caused by misguided decisions. With most of the stories, there
is no definite resolution, and yet they are stories that leave you
thinking long after you have finished the last story and closed the book.