Dirt Music

“When Georgie sat down before the terminal she was gone in her seat, like a pensioner at the pokies, gone for all money. Into that welter of useless information night after night to confront people and notions she could do without.”

Georgie’s attitude toward her emotional predicament is on full display in this desire for escapism. She sees the virtual realm as a means of erasing her physical and emotional baggage, interacting with the world in an anonymous and therefore protected state. This desire to avoid confrontation through escapism hints at the protagonist’s tragic flaw.

“After weeks of the virtual, it was queer and almost painful to be completely present.”

Georgie is confronted by a sudden surge of physical sensation as she swims nude in the lagoon with a stranger’s dog. Not only had Georgie isolated her emotional self from her declining affection for her spouse and stepchildren, but she had shut off her body to sensation. This rare encounter with the sea on a random November dawn brings Georgie into conflict with her reality. Totally exposed, she cannot hide from herself.

“In earlier times, when arson was a civic tool and regulatory gunfire not unknown at sea, the locals sorted poachers out with a bit of White Point diplomacy.”

The novel is set in White Point, a small fishing town tucked in the safety of a lagoon where fishermen primarily seek rock lobster (crayfish). Although the town has changed since the 1950s, it remains a locale regulated by and for the fishermen. A shamateur stands little chance in a town that survives off of legitimate fishing. Lu knows his boat will be sunk, his farm burnt, and his life in danger.