The Following (Roger McDonald, Vintage)

Roger McDonald is a great wordsmith. Having enjoyed both Mr Darwin’s Shooter and The Ballad of Desmond Kale, I was looking forward to reading his new book. The Following is a novel in three parts. ‘The Friendly Knot’ is the story of Marcus Friendly, who, according to the author’s notes, is loosely based on former Australian prime minister Ben Chifley. ‘The Morrison Hitch’ is a clever story about Kyle Morrison—the son of the great Australian poet Bounder Morrison—who lives on a big property that he once owned but couldn’t run properly. ‘The Yeoman’s Bend’ follows a group of friends on the South Coast of New South Wales at the end of their lives. The three books are loosely linked by an unnamed political party (but obviously the Labor Party), working on the railway and living on the land. And as you can see from their titles, the stories are also connected by knots, with repeated references to knots and commas in the text. I think McDonald had great fun in writing this book, and part of its playfulness is how it jumps from ‘now’ to 60 years hence. For example, in one paragraph a character is living in the 1930s and in the next we see he owns a Jaguar XJ6. This book will be enjoyed by fans of McDonald. It will appeal to people who like to look back gently at Australian history.

Clive Tilsley is the owner and director of Fullers Bookshop

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Category: Reviews