This book, set in Melbourne and London in 1991, is the follow-up to Cairo, Womersley’s novel about the theft of a Picasso from the NGV in Melbourne. Edward Degraves never made it as a painter. His partner, Gertrude, is a far better artist, although he’s the better mixer of colour. Together they produce scam works, generating money which they then spend on heroin. Twin narratives follow Edward in Melbourne and a reverse chronology of Edward and Gertrude in London.
The novel begins with Edward’s deportation from the UK for drug possession. Gertrude has overdosed; he’s travelling with an urn holding her ashes. The urn also holds fifty grams of high grade heroin which he hopes to sell. This same heroin was responsible for Gertrude’s overdose. (It was injected into her body and now her ‘body’ carries it again – a neat narrative overlap.)
Edward was in detox when Gertrude died; he’s determined to stay clean. The sale of the drugs will close that chapter of his life and allow him to move away from the circles he once moved in. A past associate finds him, though. This expository device allows Womersley to unload background from the previous novel. (It’s helpful knowledge but seems forced.) Edward contacts the dealer from his past and arranges to meet at the Diplomat Motel in St Kilda. Before the meeting, Edward hands Gertrude’s ashes to her father and visits his own father and brother. There’s little development of the characters however, and their relationships appear disappointingly superficial.
The novel deals with love and loss: for Gertrude and for the life Edward and she might have had. Sadly, the full potential of the novel remains unfulfilled.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
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