Tracy Farr

A reconstituted family gathers to pack up their old lives in their once-upon-a time holiday home, which has now been sold. Iris and her ex, who now has a new wife and baby get on just fine. So does her son, Kurt, with his younger cousin Luce. The story drifts along, and I'm not all that engaged. Then Iris' mother, all but 100 years old comes into the frame. Her story is tracked backwards from just now, until over 60 years ago, via letters, diaries, and Rosa's published faery tales. I was hooked. She had quite a life, and having it revealed in that gradual way that a friend or family member might come to discover it was interesting, and carried me along when we reverted once more to the present day narrative. This is the story teller as geologist, unpacking the past gradually, and in reverse order. In the end, this was an absorbing read.… (mehr)

Tracy Farr is an author I discovered when her debut novel, The Life and Loves of Lena Gault was longlisted for the Miles Franklin award in 2014. (See my review here). The novel went on to be shortlisted for the Barbara Jefferis and the WA Premier’s awards, and it’s been published in the US and the UK as well. The Hope Fault is her second novel.

I’ve tagged Tracy as a Kiwi in my Meet a Kiwi Author series but although she’s lived in New Zealand for twenty years, she grew up in Australia, and The Hope Fault is set in a fictional town called Cassetown in south-western Australia. It feels like the Margaret River region on a very wet day, though the action of the novel takes place almost entirely inside a house. But the rain begins as the extended family arrives at the weekender that now has to be packed up and vacated, and the full-on, pelting deluge persists throughout the weekend. They can always hear it from inside guttering and gushing, sinking into the earth, wetting, muddening, all damp and glorious. Sometimes they feel a bit anxious about the strength and intensity of this rainstorm, but their house is like an ark, with representative souls to carry on into the future, whatever the rain may bring.

A place of family memories, the house brings together for this one last time: Iris, the quiet, reliable one who stitches everything together, and her son Kurt; her ex-husband Paul, his new wife Kristin and their nameless baby; and (arriving late) Marti, the ‘life of the party’ sister of Iris. Marti’s daughter Luce travelled down with Iris, not with her mother, for reasons that become obvious. Not able to join them is Rosa, mother of Iris and Marti, and now mute after a stroke and in aged care. But she is not forgotten – the family is planning celebrations for her 100th birthday which coincides with Kurt’s 21st.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/05/20/the-hope-fault-by-tracy-farr/… (mehr)