'My mother had morphed into versions of all kinds of boyfriends before Jason. She'd been a cowboy boot wearer and a biker chick and a Liberal voter. She'd been a person who went to raves in the bush and a person who watched horror movies and a person who had to sleep with the fan on. They'd come and go, and she'd snap back to herself. But no one had shattered her the way Jason did.
'When her mother falls for some guy that she met at the supermarket, sixteen-year-old Skye immediately senses danger. Jason is charming but secretive, prone to fits of temper. He comes and goes at all hours. He has strange friends. Soon he has convinced her mother quit her job and come to work with him... whatever he does.
'When Jason persuades Linda that she and her kids should move into his place in Port Flinders - a struggling town in South Australia's Gulf region - Skye and her brother Ben do their best to settle into a new routine. But as Jason's behaviour becomes more unpredictable, and their mother increasingly absent, Skye finds herself forced to make decisions that will change all of their lives for good.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Author's note: I would like to show my respect for and acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which I write and love and breathe, and recognise Elders past and present.
Dedication: For my mum, in gratitude for her wisdom and courage
Epigraph: Galapagos tortoises are the largest of all living tortoises. They live on islands created by volcanos. The oldest Galapagos tortoise lived to be 170 years old. They eat leaves, lichen and even cactuses. When the sun goes down it gets cold, and they burrow into the mud to stay warm. Their only natural predator is the Galapgos hawk, an endemic bird that eats the hatchlings. Galapagos tortoises are very peaceful creatures. - Australian Zoological Magazine
'Shortly after her son, Luke, was murdered by his father, Rosie Batty spoke of the non-discriminatory nature of family violence: ‘No matter how nice your house is, how intelligent you are. It can happen to anyone, and everyone.’ If Batty’s is an example of the less easily imagined site of domestic violence, Anna Spargo-Ryan’s second novel, The Gulf, presents us with a more conventional alternative: a disadvantaged environment, a mother (Linda) who loses herself in each man she encounters, and her children, Skye and Ben, who pick up the slack. But when Linda meets Jason, a shady bloke in ‘import–export’, and the three move from Adelaide to his home in ‘shithole’ Port Flinders, incipient violence turns overt, erratic mothering becomes neglect, and Skye is forced to protect herself and Ben, and to make decisions that will affect them all.' (Introduction)
‘The Gulf’ explores the family dynamics of abuse and its effects on children.'
‘The Gulf’ explores the family dynamics of abuse and its effects on children.'
