G’day, mates! I thought I would write a bit about Jane Harper’s new book, The Lost Man. It’s a mystery story set in the outback of modern-day Australia, on a cattle “station” (a large land-holding) owned by the Bright family. It is the story of three brothers, living on adjacent properties, miles apart physically and even further apart in their relationship to each other. The mystery involves how and why Cameron, the middle brother, is found miles from anywhere, curled beneath the tombstone at the remote “Stockman’s Grave” site, dead from thirst. I won’t detail too much of the story because it's a ripping good yarn that is a mystery story as well as an examination of memory and the choices we make in life, and how consequences stemming from them manifest—sometimes for generations. The pace is slow, in keeping with the rhythms of the lives of its characters as they work, play and love in the harsh and unforgiving outback environment. Harper unveils truths, some that have been hidden for decades, in careful ‘pulses’ I’ll call them, that make the book something of a page-turner. For me, while she did not quite deliver in making me ‘feel’ or ‘experience’ the outback, its landscape, its climate and so on, she did provide a fascinating window into the lives of cattle herders in the grasslands and desert-adjacent locations of western Queensland.
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| Jane Harper |
The events leading to Cameron’s death are pieced together over several days by the story’s protagonist Nathan, the eldest brother, as the family gathers at the Bright homestead for the Christmas holidays, made into a sombre affair by the mysterious death. Childhood memories play critical roles in solving the mystery, as do the unravelling of puzzles Nathan encounters and the discrepancies he notes in and around the family’s vast Burley Downs Station. I thought the story might not hold my interest because it was set on a remote ranch, with only two or three additional characters added to the family grouping. But Harper gives rich, engaging details as she examines the lives of Nathan and his younger brother Bub and the memories they recall, along with those of their mother, Cameron’s widow Ilse and her two young daughters, Nathan’s college-bound son, and Harry, the family’s long-time friend. What I liked most were the honest conversations that occurred as the characters gradually reveal truths that had for too long lain dormant. It suggested to me that, in living and working in such a land, with blistering temperatures, vast distances and gnawing loneliness to contend with, people aren’t given to idle chatter—they get to the point with refreshing bluntness!
The Lost Man is a richly rewarding read, pared down to what is essential in life and what is necessary in the relationships we have with others and the ones we love. It is a story of redemption and forgiveness as well as sadness, but it is also a story of joy and love. Well done, Jane Harper. Good on ya!
Cheers, Jake.
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| "Can someone please plug me in? Please!" |
Jane Harper, The Lost Man, Pan Macmillan, Australia, 2018, Flatiron Books, New York, N.Y., 2019.
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