Ricardo

The story of Jakes current life as a sheep farmer on a British island is written as a mystery with the main question being; who (or what) is killing the sheep on her farm? But the story of Jakes past (told in a reverse chronological order) reveals the true mystery to be; What led Jake to leave Australia and live a solitary life on an island?

The book is well paced and I found myself reading page after page expecting to uncover more a mystery, but unfortunately what I found were two stories that didn't do enough to justify their connection. I did enjoy some of the writing, although a lot of the Australian scenes fell into some very heavy handed “ocker Australian” tropes.

I wish I could like this book more. I was immediately drawn into the setting; WW2 in the neutral port city of Lisbon, Portugal. I was unfamiliar with that bit of history, and the book painted the picture of that period and location very well.

Unfortunately this book is really let down by the uninteresting main characters whose motives rarely make sense, and the terrible dialogue that occurs between them which is a shame as the novel has some great writing in between.

I didn't buy Iris and Edwards relationship, I didnt buy Edward as a character, and I couldn't understand Petes obsession with him. Everytime the two talked I wanted Edwards dull, pretentious conversation to be over, yet Pete was yearning for him... why? All the while Julia was either being stroppy or playing solitaire...