Maggie is a perplexing character,equal parts lucid and foggy. The book shines in the middle section,in which a police investigation takes place regarding a crime that she may or may not have committed. Here,Maggie’s occasional role as an unreliable narrator emerges. Down expertly plays intimate scenes depicting the character’s actions and thoughts against police interview transcripts,and the reader is left with little clarity as to what actually happened.
There are also moments when Maggie herself is unsure whether she has blacked out and forgotten something;after this,the character’s first vanishing act occurs. It’s incredibly clever writing that fortifies Down’s point about the fallibility of trauma-impacted memory – the novel is Maggie’s testament to herself,her mind the only proof she has of her existence at all,yet there are still gaps that cannot be filled,even by herself.
What’s remarkable about the novel is the way in which Down balances this darkness with small moments of beauty,rendering Maggie’s complex,harrowing life with grace,humanity and hope. One particularly memorable scene sees Maggie and her first husband observing the brilliance of bioluminescence at Phillip Island in the dead of night,lending a brief moment of awe and magic to their relationship,dying under the weight of grief.