If Jack Kerouac (On the Road) and Kenneth Cook (Wake in Fright) had a child, this book would be the result, although Stephen King might file a paternity suit. This is a road trip novel in the Australian gothic style, following the time-honoured trope of the child missing in the bush. The dystopian goldfields region of WA is an ideal location to stage this.

Garreth Hoyle worked as a shearer on Banjawarn, a station north of Kalgoorlie. Station managers, Turk and Stella formed a close relationship with the shearing team, Hoyle, Kerryn and Clay, bonding over a search for the site of a meteorite strike.

Hoyle then wrote a true crime book, focussing on the disappearance of Eddy Honeybones, Turk and Stella’s 10-year-old son … and upset the Banjawarn team in the process.

Now, 15 years later, he finds an abandoned 10-year-old girl, Luna and decides to return her to her father. There is an underlying weirdness as Holye is a drug-user with PCP as his favoured poison. The hallucinogenic properties of the drug infuse the narrative, giving it a fever dream quality, with visions and ghosts aplenty.

Luna’s characterisation swings from the innocent preteen to a (not-quite believable) adult-ish maturity. Her teddy, Gary has its own sinister characteristics. Luna’s bizarre urge to devour insects is not dictated by hunger. She feels an affinity with Hoyle although he places her in danger. Her character mirrors Garreth’s early life.

There is no doubting the breadth of Kemp’s imagination. Corralling that wild vividness into a coherent narrative – without losing its intent – is the missing piece to this gothic puzzle.

Reviewed by Bob Moore

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Josh Kemp is an author of Australian gothic fiction. Banjawarn was joint winner of the 2021 Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript and is his debut novel. His short stories have been published by Kill Your Darlings, Overland, Seizure, Tincture and Breach.

He’s previously been shortlisted for the Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award and longlisted for the Fogarty Literary Award. Currently completing his PhD at Edith Cowan University in Bunbury, he lives in the South West of WA but is drawn, over and over again, to the red dirt of WA’s north.