'Cambridge, 1963.
'Charlotte is struggling. With motherhood, with the changes marriage and parenthood bring, with losing the time and the energy to paint. Her husband, Henry, wants things to be as they were and can’t face the thought of another English winter.
'A brochure slipped through the letterbox slot brings him the answer: ‘Australia brings out the best in you’.
'Despite wanting to stay in the place that she knows, Charlotte is too worn out to fight. Before she has a chance to realise what it will mean, she is travelling to the other side of the world. Arriving in Perth, the southern sun shines a harsh light on both Henry and Charlotte and slowly reveals that their new life is not the answer either was hoping for. Charlotte is left wondering if there is anywhere she belongs and how far she’ll go to find her way home …'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Epigraph:
'Nostalgia (from nostros - return home, and algia - longing) is a longing for home that no longer exists or has never existed. Nostalgia is a sentiment of loss and displacement, but it is also a romane with one's own fantasy. Nostalgic love can only survive in a long-distance relationship. A cinematic image of nostalgia is a double exposure, or a superimposition of two images - of home and abroad, past and present, dream and everyday life. The moment we try to force it into a single image, it breaks the frame or burns the surface.' –Svetlana Boym, The Future of Nostalgia
'Because of course the dream-England is no more than a dream.' -Salman Rushdie, Imaginary Homelands.
