Cassie McCullough

But then the whole novel is spent trying to undo that and trying to work out if he does have

a point to his life, living in this place that is remembered as a site of golden summers, which we see weren't golden at all.

But one other thing I'm curious about, Stuart, is that this is a novel that's set by the beach, but how much is it actually about the surf?

Although I thought it was interesting that we've got this group at the centre of it, Gordon and his mates, and they're also looking back at the men who are older than them, their own parents' generations, and they say that those older guys had looked at Bluebird Beach and seen disorder in need of command, whereas Gordon saw only threat and loss and the last-ditch possibility of salvage.

So what they're remembering and what they think they're losing...

is actually quite different.

And for me, that was what made this book interesting.

So Cassie, you had some hesitations, partly about the style and what it was giving you.

So I'm wondering if Stuart and Johan, you could tell us what it was for you as a reading experience.

Cassie, I've long been fascinated by memory and how we make sense of the past.

And so one of the things I really enjoyed about this book was the way that memory was contested and reinterpreted over and over again in this book.

So it wasn't just about nostalgia.

It was about different layers of it and how we might

understand our memory of a place.

So I enjoyed that.

And because I read it in only a couple of chunks, I was able to keep track of all of the different characters.

So in some ways, it feels to me like this would be quite a good summer beach time read, but I don't think you'd want to stretch it out for too long.

Otherwise, you'd lose track of who Sam was and

who the fiery was and, you know, who these other characters are who are walking in and out.

But because I read it in quite a concentrated way, I really enjoyed that sort of salt on cracked lips sense of being there at Bluebird Beach.