From the novel’s first pages the author grows a sense of unease which intensifies as the story progresses. In the Clearing he presents a complex and unpredictable plot that is skillfully crafted and insidiously compulsive. Pomare, whose debut novel, Call Me Evie, won the 2019 Ngaio Marsh Award for best first novel.ĭivided into six parts and unfolding from two shifting perspectives we are introduced to Amy, a young teenage girl who knows only life in The Clearing, a tiny isolated community led by the charismatic ‘Queen’, ‘Mother’ and ‘Deity’ Adrienne and single mother Freya, who is determined to provide love and security for her young son, Billy, in their riverside home on the outskirts of Melbourne, but is haunted by her past mistakes.Įxamining the role of nature vs nurture in a manner that suggests we may never truly escape our past, Pomare draws inspiration from the doomsday cult known as ‘The Family’, active in Australia for roughly twenty years in the 70’s and 80’s. In the Clearing is an intense and unnerving read from J.P. Status: Read July 2020 courtesy Hodder & Staughton/NetgalleyUK Published: July 23rd 2020, Hodder & Staughton
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