David Gaunt

Speaking as the person in the room closest to that age group, I was made quite uncomfortable by it, and I think it was almost a felt assumption that this was...

not a book to take you into very dark places, which in fact it was doing for me.

And particularly, I mean, I think Finn is the masterstroke in characterisation in the book, no doubt about that.

But that impacts immediately on her owner, Wendy, who is unable to let go of the dog because if she does, it's another tick or cross.

on the journey to the end.

And of course, they're in the house of the beloved one whose friend who's held them all together for all those years.

And the fact that she's gone puts immense strain, if not a complete fracture, through what they all thought, how they related to each other.

They weren't a quartet, perhaps.

And partly that's because she's so good at it.

But they have been, well, if you like, they've been moderated through voices.

I mean, you've got the history of the early Christian church in there or the establishment of the Christian church, but you've got two or three generations of characters from Paul through to Timothy and Paul.

You know, the Roman jailer and all that.

There are ways in which I think that what Christos hasn't previously attempted to do when he's an outsider looking in, in the slap or in Barracuda, you've got race and class and contemporary Australia.

I think this is something which has totally captured him and the writing is that much more, I mean, his writing's always visceral and...

Conversely, I went in with a great deal of enthusiasm because I did have that background and it did make so much more sense to me.

Probably three of the last four we've just talked about would fill the bill.

It obviously depends on the reader, but it's very difficult to explain books sometimes.

And I've seen eyes glaze over many, many times.

They've said, you must read this because, and the very reasons I'm giving are the reasons that someone would say, well, no, I need a...

I need a consecutive narrative.