Do you ever approach a book with a preconceived notion as to how it will be only to have that notion disintegrate as you get into the story? That's my experience with this book. I wasn't prepared for the raw brutality of the story or for her chequered past. The story alternates between the present and the past; between the damp greenness of England and the sunburnt dryness of Australia. She paints a very convincing portrait of life among the sheep-shearers and doesn't hold back in her description. All in all it was a pretty good story but I felt like I had to drag her past out of her one page at a time all the way to the end of the book. I'm not sure I liked the ending - I somehow felt cheated by it.
There were a lot of things I liked about this novel but nothing that really bowled me over or convinced me I would read it again, hence the rating. After seeing on it many best-of end of year lists, I think I went in expecting more than I ended up getting out of it. The story is told in alternating chapters-odd chapters are set in the present and move forward in time, even chapters are set in the past and move backwards from close to the present back to the beginning. This sounds complicated but Wyld uses it well and it's actually a very effective way to tell the story. I liked Jake quite a bit, and even the unresolved ending didn't bother me, I just wasn't blown away by anything in here. There's no reason not to read this if it intrigues you.
