SOME TESTS

SOME TESTS begins when Beth—aged-care worker, wife of David, mother of Lettie and Gem—wakes up feeling vaguely off-colour. A locum sends her to Dr Yi for some tests. ‘There are a few things here that aren't quite right,' says Dr Yi, ‘and sometimes it is these little wrongnesses that can lead us to the bigger wrongs that matter.' Beth is sent on to Dr Twoomey for more tests. Then to another specialist, and another She is bumped from suburb to suburb, bewildered, joining busloads of people all clutching white envelopes and hoping for answers.

But what is wrong with Beth? Is anything, in fact, wrong with her? And what strange forces are at work in the system? As Wayne Macauley's new novel reaches its stunning climax, we realise how strange these forces are.

Unnerving and brilliant, SOME TESTS is about waking up one morning and finding your ordinary life changed forever.

Wayne Macauley is the author of Blueprints for a Barbed-Wire Canoe and Caravan Story, as well asThe Cook and Demons. The Cook was shortlisted for a Western Australian Premier's Book Award, a Victorian Premier's Literary Award and the Melbourne Prize Best Writing Award. It was published in the UK by Quercus, in Canada by Penguin and in Turkey by Ithaki. Demons was also shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award.