'Amid the furious ocean there was no human sound on deck: some people standing, watching the wave, but no one capable of words.
'On the Java Ridge, skipper Isi Natoli and a group of Australian surf tourists are anchored beside an idyllic reef off the Indonesian island of Dana.
'In the Canberra office of Cassius Calvert, Minister for Border Integrity, a Federal election looms and (not coincidentally) a hardline new policy is being announced regarding maritime assistance to asylum-seeker vessels in distress.
'A few kilometres away from Dana, the Takalar is having engine trouble. Among the passengers fleeing from persecution are Roya and her mother, and Roya’s unborn sister.
'The storm now closing in on the Takalar and the Java Ridge will mean catastrophe for them all.
'With On the Java Ridge Jock Serong, bestselling author of The Rules of Backyard Cricket, brings us a literary novel with the pace and tension of a political thriller—and some of the most compelling, heartstopping writing about the sea since Patrick O’Brian.' (Publication summary)
'One of the ironies of fiction is that the issues that feel most urgent are often those that are most resistant to successful fictional treatment.
'Why this should be is an interesting question, not least because our distaste for overtly political novels (and the tendency of writers to regard it as somewhat gauche) is a relatively recent phenomenon. Many of the greatest novels of the 19th and early 20th century are explicitly engaged with the issues of their day, and writers from Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo to Emile Zola and Thomas Hardy were fired by an often white-hot fury about social injustice.' (Introduction)
'A rich vein of political writing runs through Australian fiction. From the early days of socialist realism, through the anti-colonialism of both black and white writers, to tough explorations of identity politics today, we have struggled with concepts of justice and equality since Federation.' (Introduction)
'The Java Ridge is a boat ferrying Australian surf tourists from Bali to the killer breaks found off remote Indonesian islands to the south. Stand-in captain Isi Natoli is at the helm, while her partner, Joel, is in Perth, trying to save the business. As they head for the tiny island of Dana, another boat is en route from Sulawesi. It is the Takalar, and contains dozens of refugees seeking asylum in Australia. They have paid people smugglers, who have taken their coin even though they know the Australian government has just announced a new policy in which all responsibility for assisting boats in distress has been disavowed.' (Introduction)
'The Java Ridge is a boat ferrying Australian surf tourists from Bali to the killer breaks found off remote Indonesian islands to the south. Stand-in captain Isi Natoli is at the helm, while her partner, Joel, is in Perth, trying to save the business. As they head for the tiny island of Dana, another boat is en route from Sulawesi. It is the Takalar, and contains dozens of refugees seeking asylum in Australia. They have paid people smugglers, who have taken their coin even though they know the Australian government has just announced a new policy in which all responsibility for assisting boats in distress has been disavowed.' (Introduction)
'A rich vein of political writing runs through Australian fiction. From the early days of socialist realism, through the anti-colonialism of both black and white writers, to tough explorations of identity politics today, we have struggled with concepts of justice and equality since Federation.' (Introduction)
'One of the ironies of fiction is that the issues that feel most urgent are often those that are most resistant to successful fictional treatment.
'Why this should be is an interesting question, not least because our distaste for overtly political novels (and the tendency of writers to regard it as somewhat gauche) is a relatively recent phenomenon. Many of the greatest novels of the 19th and early 20th century are explicitly engaged with the issues of their day, and writers from Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo to Emile Zola and Thomas Hardy were fired by an often white-hot fury about social injustice.' (Introduction)
