In the Half-light by Anthony Lawrence.


I think I've got a bit of a thing for first-time novelists. (But maybe its a fear of committment). This is a book I recently picked up at the local second hand bookshop. (Right opposite the local cocktail bar - I love my area).
Its by an Aussie writer who's apparently had some poetry published but I'd never herad of him. The jacket says he was born in Tamworth, NSW and is an award-winning poet. And in good first-novel style the protaganist is born in a "country town, high in the New Englad Tablelands of New South Wales". The book tells the story of a boy growing into a man, and living with schitzophrenia. But the condition is woven into the tale and delusionsal episodes become lucid and rich prose, that is teetering on the edge of being poety. At times it become almost just a stream of metaphors and images, but manages to get back to thte narrative just in time before you're lost as a reader. I really enjoyed it. The story had sad and melancholgy moments but it felt real, and it showed a life that was a bit complicated and not just a simple story arc*.

* Term learnt from the BTVS script book.

How's that, miss list convenor? :-)