Hannah Mulvey grew up on Chesil, an island off the West Australian coast. It’s an isolated rural community and Hannah followed the path of many young people, fleeing to the mainland. Many years later, she returns to care for her dying mother and starts teaching at the local school.

Despite Hannah’s introspection she’s also aware of other issues in the local community, including depression and violence. Her attempt to help 14-year-old Mary escape through a school scholarship backfires and Mary’s life is set on another trajectory through the intervention of local priest Father John.

When the island’s major employer, Hannah’s Uncle Edward, is bankrupted, hope dries up. Father John and Mary seem to offer salvation but events soon spiral out of control, with faith turning into mania.

Hannah narrates the events years after they happen. She often begs the reader for forgiveness, for failing to foresee the unfolding disaster or doing anything to prevent it. But, as the novel progresses, there is the sense that nothing can halt what has been set in motion.

The landscape of Chesil is powerfully evoked, capturing its beauty but also its wildness. Stormy weather seems to foreshadow the events ahead. This Australian Gothic novel is a stunning debut, assured in its storytelling of a crime and a miracle.

Reviewed by Melinda Woledge