And that season is summer. Has been for years in and around Hobart, according to this wonderfully offbeat novel. The second thing to note is that The Season of Flying Saucers isn’t a story about aliens. The narrative concerns the (dis)connectedness of family and community; of trying to make sense of life.

Noah Grey is a poet who writes about UFOs. It’s not unexpected for him, as his father, Warwick, was abducted 13 years prior. Noah’s in trouble: his marriage to Sarah has ended; he’s unemployed; and he won’t be able to make the mortgage payments. When Noah’s father returns to Earth on the first day of summer, he’s not greeted by Noah with the open arms of a hero’s welcome. This is not a close family. Noah’s sister, Martha, is kicked out of the house she shares with her wife, Edie. She and their mother, Patricia, move back into the old family home, however Patricia refuses to be in the same room as Warwick, and Martha and Noah are unused to each other. Christmas in the Grey household exudes a particular sadness.

Word spreads around Hobart that Warwick has returned, and their home is besieged. Everyone is waiting for the spaceship’s return and what will happen to Warwick.

For a narrative predicated on the existence of aliens, there is no description of them. Rather, the narrative is focused on alienation and meaninglessness. As one of the characters states: ‘… we all want for there to be something more’. The suggestion is that hope is the anchor needed to find meaning in this brief existence. Beautifully insightful.

Reviewed by Bob Moore

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brendan Colley was born in South Africa, and made Tasmania his home in 2009. His first novel, The Signal Line, won the Unpublished Manuscript Prize in the 2019 Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Awards, and was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and The Age Book of the Year Awards. The Season for Flying Saucers is his second novel. He lives in Hobart with his wife.

Follow Brendan Colley on Instagram here.

Visit the Transit Lounge Publishing website here.

Read more about The Season of Flying Saucers here.