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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
When fourteen-year-old Allie's mother, Mae, mysteriously disappears in the dark waters of the harbor, Allie begrudgingly sets off with Julia, an aunt she barely knows, to stay at the dairy farm where her mother grew up. As the days pass and the heat of the wet season swells, Allie waits for her mother's call, certain that she will reappear. While Julia - determined to undo the damage her family has inflicted upon the land - replants the trees of the forest, Allie lurks around the cabin belonging to her mother's first love, a man who still lives deep within the valley. But when the truth about Mae's childhood and Allie's mythical father, the balloon man, begins to surface, Allie must come to grips with the lies her mother has told her and the secrets buried within the mud-rich landscape. Source: Book Jacket
Notes
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Dedication: For Joel
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Armstrong notes on her web site that an Australian film production company has bought the rights to make a film of the novel.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
- Braille.
Works about this Work
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Presumed Dead : Gothic Representations of the Missing Person in Contemporary Australian Literature
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Aeternum : The Journal of Contemporary Gothic Studies , vol. 3 no. 1 2016; (p. 1-15)This article considers the ways contemporary Australian writers Sarah Armstrong (in Salt Rain, 2004) and Jessie Cole (in Darkness of the Edge of Town, 2012) use the Gothic to articulate the uncertainties of the state of being missing, representing the missing person as liminal in Victor Turner's sense, a kind of undead figure who mediates between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead.
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Shelf Live of the Aussie Book
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Author , December vol. 37 no. 3 2005; (p. 13-17) Dawn Cohen considers how short-lived the shelf life of Australian books are and proposes ways to remedy this. -
Bali Inspiration Beckons Reader
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 20 - 21 August 2005; (p. 7) -
Prize Fighters Booked for Crack at the Franklin
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Australian , 22 April 2005; (p. 3) -
Dark Downs Thriller Stands Tall on Short List
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 22 April 2005; (p. 3)
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Right as Rain
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 7 August 2004; (p. 11)
— Review of Toccata & Rain : A Novel 2004 single work novel ; Salt Rain 2004 single work novel -
In Short : Fiction
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 7-8 August 2004; (p. 13)
— Review of Murder by Manuscript 2004 single work novel ; Salt Rain 2004 single work novel -
A Branch of Rural Gothic
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 14 August 2004; (p. 8)
— Review of Salt Rain 2004 single work novel -
Paperbacks
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Canberra Sunday Times , 15 August 2004; (p. 18)
— Review of Salt Rain 2004 single work novel ; Furies 2004 single work novel -
Salty Water
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 264 2004; (p. 48-49)
— Review of Salt Rain 2004 single work novel ; Rhubarb 2004 single work novel ; Ash Rain 2004 single work novel -
Dark Downs Thriller Stands Tall on Short List
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 22 April 2005; (p. 3) -
Prize Fighters Booked for Crack at the Franklin
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Australian , 22 April 2005; (p. 3) -
Bali Inspiration Beckons Reader
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 20 - 21 August 2005; (p. 7) -
Shelf Live of the Aussie Book
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Author , December vol. 37 no. 3 2005; (p. 13-17) Dawn Cohen considers how short-lived the shelf life of Australian books are and proposes ways to remedy this. -
Presumed Dead : Gothic Representations of the Missing Person in Contemporary Australian Literature
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Aeternum : The Journal of Contemporary Gothic Studies , vol. 3 no. 1 2016; (p. 1-15)This article considers the ways contemporary Australian writers Sarah Armstrong (in Salt Rain, 2004) and Jessie Cole (in Darkness of the Edge of Town, 2012) use the Gothic to articulate the uncertainties of the state of being missing, representing the missing person as liminal in Victor Turner's sense, a kind of undead figure who mediates between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead.
Awards
- 2005 shortlisted Queensland Premier's Literary Awards — Best Fiction Book
- 2005 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
- Far North NSW, New South Wales,
- Rural,
- Sydney, New South Wales,