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GOODWOOD

Holly Throsby

A delightful debut novel of secrets and small town obsessions. Menace and mystery within a close-knit rural community reminiscent of Jasper Jones and Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

It wasn't just one person who went missing, it was two people. Two very different people. They were there, and then they were gone, as if from a crack in the sky. After that, in a small town like Goodwood, where we had what Nan called 'a high density of acquaintanceship', everything stopped. Or at least it felt that way. The normal feeling of things stopped. Goodwood is a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone. It's a place where it's impossible to keep a secret. In 1992, when Jean Brown is seventeen, a terrible thing happens. Two terrible things. Rosie White, the coolest girl in town, vanishes overnight. One week later, Goodwood's most popular resident, Bart McDonald, sets off on a fishing trip and never comes home. People die in Goodwood, of course, but never like this. They don't just disappear. As the intensity of speculation about the fates of Rosie and Bart heightens, Jean, who is keeping secrets of her own, and the rest of Goodwood are left reeling. Rich in character and complexity, its humour both droll and tender, Goodwood is a compelling ride into a small community, torn apart by dark rumours and mystery. This is HOLLY THROSBY's debut fiction but she is an accomplished and awarded musician who lives in Sydney. She's released five solo albums and has been nominated for four ARIA awards. Holly is a council member for the animal protection institute, Voiceless; a regular peer assessor for The Australia Council; and has acted as a judge for The Australian Music Prize. She's active on social media, likes good books, cryptic crosswords, small towns, and dogs.

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Book Published 2016-10-01 by Allen & Unwin

Comments

Fashioned with gentle humour, sharply observed detail and deep reservoirs of well-directed rage, the story has so many moving parts you could easily miss something as subtle and brilliant as the elegant symmetries that cast a new light on Jean's narration. Where other books have clunky revelations, this has grace notes. Goodwood is many things: a satisfying and cleverly constructed mystery, an affectionate but clear-eyed portrait of a time and place, and a darkly lovely coming of age story. But most of all, it's a complete revelation, the conjuring up of a sad, beautiful, indelible little world of its own.

Holly Throsby's debut novel is lyrical without being abstruse, colloquial without being contrived. Her characters, while familiar, are nuanced and authentic, and her depiction of small-town life is bang-on in both its endearing and suffocating ways.

PRIZE NOMINATIONS FOR GOODWOOD: Shortlisted 2017 Indie Books Awards - Best Debut Fiction, Shortlisted 2017 Australian Book Industry Awards - Literary Fiction Book of the Year, Shortlisted 2017 Australian Book Industry Awards - Matt Richell Award for New Writer, Shortlisted 2017 Davitt Awards - Best Adult Novel, Shortlisted 2017 Davitt Awards - Best Debut Novel, Shortlisted 2017 Ned Kelly Awards - Best First Fiction

With laconic wit and deft plotting, Throsby seamlessly weaves Jean's coming-of-age with the novel's central mystery... it's a nuanced portrayal of the damage created by hidden truths in tight-knit communities.

There is much to admire in Throsby's writing: the plotting, the pacing, the characters, and the sense of place. The characters are rich and myriad... all are beautifully realised.

Even as Throsby rachets up the fear factor, she writes with an observant, gentle humour, displaying an awareness and affection for tiny-town idiosyncrasies. Despite the dark undertow, Goodwood is feel-good fiction.

A little bit Twin Peaks and a little bit Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Rich in character and complexity, Goodwood is a compelling ride into a small community torn apart by dark rumour and mystery.

Goodwood is a wonderfully lush and well-realised depiction of several aspects of contemporary Australian life and its unhurried narrative style means the wide cast of characters all feel three-dimensional. Domestic violence, sexual experimentation and alcohol abuse are skilfully threaded into the story. The intrigue slowly builds to the point where the urge to learn the truth about the disappearances becomes overwhelming. The ending does not disappoint.