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'The floorboards were hard and uneven as she knelt beside the Saratoga. Squeezing the corroded latch, Gin carefully eased open the lid, trying to predict the treasures inside. The lining was shabby and mottled with mildew, and drifts of mustiness filled the air as she began to unearth the contents from the shrouding dust. Mostly books, she found, a few toys, and a fat-cheeked doll lying naked on top. What had she expected?'
'It is 1956, and twelve-year old Gin has arrived at the family farm, 'Grasswood', in the South West of Western Australia. She has been left in the care of her lively, idiosyncratic aunt, Attie, while her mother, an English war bride, returns home for a holiday. Gin is the youngest of three generations of very different women, whose lives are profoundly affected by the absence of Jasper: son, brother, husband, father. A fixed point in all their lives is the landscape, layered with beauty and fear, challenge and consolation, isolation and freedom.
'Beautifully written, Finding Jasper is an acute, sensitive search for love and a sense of self in a rapidly changing world. ' (Publisher's blurb)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
In Short : Fiction
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 9-10 February 2013; (p. 32) The Age , 9 February 2013; (p. 26)
— Review of Walter 2012 single work novel ; Finding Jasper 2012 single work novel ; Chasing the Light : A Novel of Antarctica 2013 single work novel
-
In Short : Fiction
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 9-10 February 2013; (p. 32) The Age , 9 February 2013; (p. 26)
— Review of Walter 2012 single work novel ; Finding Jasper 2012 single work novel ; Chasing the Light : A Novel of Antarctica 2013 single work novel
Awards
- 2013 longlisted Kibble Literary Awards — Nita May Dobbie Award
- Western Australia,