Before I read Nick Gadd’s novel, Death of a Typographer, I was oblivious to the world of typography and ghost signs. Thanks to that gem of a read, I have since become something of a convert.

In this new non-fiction, he introduces the concept of psychogeography. English writer Robert McFarlane explains the idea: ‘Place a glass rim down, anywhere on a map and draw around its edge. Pick up the map, go out into the city, and walk the circle …’

In 2014, after a flat patch in their more than 20-year relationship, Nick and his wife Lynne decide to ‘walk it out’ beginning a two-year journey across 50 suburbs in a circle, from and to Williamstown, in Melbourne.

This is a love letter to the City of Melbourne, and an homage to an enduring relationship between two people in love throughout life’s ups and downs, peppered throughout with fabulous tales of some of Melbourne’s more colourful history. A deeply personal book that at times took my breath away with its raw honesty.

Anyone who, like me, has spent some of a lockdown getting to know their local streets more intimately may find inspiration to ‘look up’ and see history and the present together while travelling on a road of one’s own.

Reviewed by Maryanne Vagg