'David Marr’s voice is ubiquitous, at least within the purlieus of the liberal Left. It’s also unique; the cultivated accent of the WASP establishment (although Sydney’s Shore was ‘‘a rotten school’’), slightly breathy, energetic, lengthening and emphasising an abnormal number of words, supremely confident, without hesitation, punchy, colloquial, witty and frequently withering.' (Introduction)
'It’s a familiar trope: local girl made good returns to the town she escaped 20 years earlier and vowed not to revisit. Eliza Carmody, junior partner in a city law firm, is reluctantly back in beachside Kinsale.' (Introduction)