In a small town like Goodwood nothing much ever happens, other than the very ordinary pace of everyday life. It is not until the unthinkable occurs the even tenor of the town is disrupted; but when a second tragic event occurs, it more than gets the townspeople talking; it begins to unravel the very fine thread that holds the town together.
Through the eyes of Jean Brown, 17 years old, we view the miniature that is Goodwood as it struggles to cope with not one, but two of their townspeople who have mysteriously vanished without, as the days go by, any apparent trace.
Local policeman and member of Jeans’ immediate family, Mack, is struggling to cope with the shortfall of leads in the case of the two missing person’s while Jean is struggling to cope with growing up, along with the disappearance of the girl she most admired, Rosie White. Bart McDonald, of Barts’ Meats, and one of the most admired and lovely men of the town going missing just ads to the distress caused, not only to Jean, but to the town.
As the days move slowly along and it becomes more and more apparent that something dreadful must have happened to Rosie and Bart, with the underbelly of the townspeople most affected by these mysterious disappearances exposed for all to see and talk about; whilst behind closed doors and even in public, suspicion is aroused with fear, slowly but inexorably creeping into the fabric of the town.
Slowly the various pieces of the puzzle begin to come together, providing answers to the townsfolk who, as do all close knit communities, rise to the cause coming together once again to help nurture and care for their own.
As there are several stories running concurrently within the one framework, the portrait of small town life is given a deep richness by Throsby, in this her first novel, presenting a very readable, enjoyable, quirky, slightly wry look at the many, many characters you will find in any town, on any given day, pretty much anywhere in the world, let alone Goodwood, somewhere in Australia.
