AustLit

Arriving at Night is a quirky and sharply observant novel whose events take place over a period of only 6 days. Secreted in a holiday house on the NSW north coast with friends, Joachim contemplates the awful thing that she has done. Should she tell someone...the police, her boyfriend, or perhaps her mysterious friend Vincent? But surely they, like she, would be too shocked that someone as quiet as she, a woman so unassuming and gentle would be capable of an act so cruel. She can only see one way out....As well as this intense domestic drama, Joachim delves into a much bigger issue - everyday she reads from the biography of Albert Speer (Hitler's architect) and draws parallels with how he dealt with guilt and evil. This broadens the novel's perspective and gives it an extra dimension. Arriving at Night explores the capacity for evil that resides in each of us. Dark, but not depressing, it is surprising, well-paced and deftly handled. It shifts and shimmers from the depths of Joachim's shadows to the delightful coastal landscape of the novel's setting. (Publisher's blurb)