AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'The long-awaited new collection of short stories from Australia’s master of the short-story genre.
'An artist marooned on a remote island in the Arafura Sea contemplates his survival chances. He understands his desperate plight and the ocean’s unrelenting power. But what is its true colour?
'A beguiling young woman nurses a baby by a lake while hiding brutal scars. Uneasy descendants of a cannibal victim visit the Pacific island of their ancestor’s murder. A Caribbean cruise of elderly tourists faces life with wicked optimism.
'Witty, clever, ever touching and always inventive, the eleven stories in The True Colour of the Sea take us to many varied coasts: whether a tense Christmas holiday apartment overlooking the Indian Ocean or the shabby glamour of a Cuban resort hotel.
'Relationships might be frayed, savaged, regretted or celebrated, but here there is always the life-force of the ocean – seducing, threatening, inspiring.
'In The True Colour of the Sea, Robert Drewe – Australia’s master of the short story form – makes a gift of stories that tackle the big themes of life: love, loss, desire, family, ageing, humanity and the life of art. ' (Publication summary)
Notes
-
Dedication: For Tray
-
Epigraph:
To undiscovered waters, undreamed shores.' - William Shakespeare
'Time is short and the water is rising.' - Raymond Carver
Contents
- Dr Pacific, single work short story (p. 1-14)
- Another Word for Cannibals, single work short story (p. 15-36)
- Black Lake and Sugarcane Road, single work short story (p. 37-46)
- Paleface and the Panther, single work short story (p. 47-66)
- Varadero, single work short story (p. 67-82)
- Lavender Bay Noir, single work short story (p. 83-108)
- A View of Mount Warning, single work short story (p. 109-128)
- The SeaDream Emails, single work short story (p. 109-129)
- Spotting Killer Whales, single work short story (p. 149-160)
- Imaginary Islands, single work short story (p. 161-182)
- The True Colour of the Sea, single work short story (p. 183-210)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Ten Great Australian Beach Reads Set at the Beach
2018
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 28 December 2018;
— Review of Floundering 2012 single work novel ; Puberty Blues 1979 single work novel ; Time's Long Ruin : A Novel 2008 single work novel ; Breath 2008 single work novel ; The Empty Beach 1983 single work novel ; The True Colour of the Sea 2018 selected work short story ; Atomic City 2013 single work novel ; Not Meeting Mr Right 2007 single work novel ; After January 1996 single work novel ; Bluebottle 2018 single work novel -
Portraits
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 404 2018; (p. 24-25)'Robert Drewe’s first short story collection, the widely acclaimed The Bodysurfers (1983), opens with a story of the Lang family – children Annie, David, and Max, taken by their recently widowed father for a Christmas Day lunch at a local hotel, where it becomes apparent that their father is on intimate terms with the hotel manageress.' (Introduction)
-
Ten Great Australian Beach Reads Set at the Beach
2018
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 28 December 2018;
— Review of Floundering 2012 single work novel ; Puberty Blues 1979 single work novel ; Time's Long Ruin : A Novel 2008 single work novel ; Breath 2008 single work novel ; The Empty Beach 1983 single work novel ; The True Colour of the Sea 2018 selected work short story ; Atomic City 2013 single work novel ; Not Meeting Mr Right 2007 single work novel ; After January 1996 single work novel ; Bluebottle 2018 single work novel -
Portraits
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 404 2018; (p. 24-25)'Robert Drewe’s first short story collection, the widely acclaimed The Bodysurfers (1983), opens with a story of the Lang family – children Annie, David, and Max, taken by their recently widowed father for a Christmas Day lunch at a local hotel, where it becomes apparent that their father is on intimate terms with the hotel manageress.' (Introduction)