Elisabeth's Reviews > Dusk

This is my favourite book of the year. Even though, or perhaps especially because, it haunted my dreams and my daytime world has been slightly adjusted.

The original story line is so clever; reimagining a Tasmanian like colonial land where puma's were introduced to kill off the introduced deer. Not so far fetched, but far enough removed to make the story fable like.

The descriptions of the landscape and birds are so vivid and beautiful. The whole book sheds light on the way you can feel a strong connection to land but also feel not worthy of that connection.

I loved this line about how Iris felt while leaving the highlands. I feel like this when I leave a natural place I love.

"It was just that she could feel the land ebbing out of her, and with each pulse of peak and plain she felt like she was losing something she would never get back".

There are so many little details to love. Like the way Iris and Floyd talk to their horses; tell them they love them while settling them for the night.

Amongst all this beauty, it is actually a violent story. Which is the haunting part, and the truth of Australia and our colonial past.