Krishna
She has had several adventures with several men, including an American with whom she has traveled from near Sydney where she lives to the remote coasts of Australia, and been shipwrecked into an island there.
When she arrives at a remote town (fictional) called White Point, she naturally falls in with Jim Buckridge, a wealthy, lucky, influential fisherman who also has two children living with him and whose wife is dead.
She accidentally meets with Lu Fox, an erstwhile musician who gave up music completely when his whole family died in an accident, and whose mother died in another accident. He lives alone, and lives by poaching fish without a license, in the sea. Fate throws them together when Georgie’s van breaks down and she hitches a lift from Lu. They discover that they are in love with each other but Georgie goes back to Jim, deciding that her life belongs with him. When Lu comes back to his place, he discovers that his place has been trashed and his dog killed.
Losing everything, he vanishes into the wilderness of Western Australia, and is unconsciously drawn to the very place that Georgie had mentioned – the island where she was shipwrecked. Before he goes into the wilderness, he posts a letter to Georgie from Broome, the nearest town. In the letter is simply a pinch of the characteristic red soil from the place – enough, he hopes, for Georgie to realize where he is.
He then begins his life in wilderness.
Georgie is bitter about the way Lu was treated and is certain that Jim is behind the slaughter of the dog. He denies any part in that and takes Georgie to an unspecified location as atonement for a crime that he did not even commit.
The story ends by bringing all these disparate strands together.
The story is told well, and the style used follows the convention of not using quote marks, rather like Roddy Doyle or Michael Ondaatje.
The raw power of descriptions sometimes is fascinating, and the storytelling also follows the technique of mixing reminiscence with current story to weave in the past history of the characters.
The life in a small fishing town of Australia is well brought out.
Georgie’s spirit is also described well – as in her going for her mother’s funeral and jumping into the swimming pool naked, in full view of the guests, including the children, to the disgust of her sisters and family.
An interesting book – not the absorbing, fascinating, raw story like The Poisonwood Bible perhaps, but still a good read.
I would give it a 7/10
— Krishna