The story opens in a remote part of Tasmania when King’s father is dying. King ran away from Blackwater as a young man. Now 40, he has met and married Grace after knowing each other for a very short time and they are expecting their first child. Grace knows very little about King and is keen to accompany him to his family home to learn more about him.

Arriving at Blackwater, they find the property is a large, derelict, damp wreck. On meeting her father-in-law, he becomes agitated and yells at Grace to leave, and his twin sister, Ruth, is also clearly disturbed. Staying at the hotel, Grace hears about the dark history and violent past surrounding Blackwater from the locals. After his father’s death, King insists they must stay and settle the estate. Ruth, meanwhile, behaves very strangely and locks herself away in her room, but creeps out of the house every night. In the process of cleaning out the old man’s belongings, Grace explores the house, finding, among other things, gruesome rooms and rows and rows of crude gravestones on the large property. Indeed, the house itself seems to have an evil influence on her husband.

Grace’s discoveries, together with local stories and Ruth’s and King’s worsening behaviour, reveal the terrible cruel past that has seeped over this place and the reason and purpose it was built for.

This story keeps the reader guessing with its supernatural undertones, layered with historical facts that were born in an era of cruelty and hardship, with very little to no respect for human life. Blackwater has an intriguing plot with clever links to Grace’s current condition and the brutality of the past. Quietly gripping.

Reviewed by Alison Logie