'After the departure of her best friend Gabriel ‘Gator’ Robinson to Europe twenty years ago, and with him the loss of her romantic vision of the future, Miranda has been living an ordinary, respectable, urban life as wife to Pete, teacher at a Catholic school and, most importantly, self-appointed keeper of her circle of old friends. But now, unexpectedly, Gator is coming home and she is unsure how this might affect the status quo of her settled life, not to mention the lives of the others.
'Whilst Miranda looks forward to the return, her husband Pete is wary; despite her claims to the contrary, didn’t Miranda love Gator once? While Pete worries about a possible threat to his marriage, their corporate, go-getter friend Steve is very clear on his own stance; Gator was supposed to be his best mate before ditching the relationship and leaving for reasons that never became clear. No need for loyalty there … neither is hanger-on Monty, already battling an absence of love in his life after the walk-out of his partner Grace, keen on the return of this mythic figure who was always so much better than he, so infuriatingly competent at everything that he did.
'But the Gator who does come back to Brisbane is physically and spiritually bereft, a broken man who is unwilling to share the story of his long absence or outline any future intentions. Rather, his presence leads Miranda to the difficult realisation that many of the apparent truths of her past, pillars upon which she has continued to build and rely throughout her adult life, have either been distorted or are blanket lies.
'As Miranda’s world unravels, the horrors of Gator’s story begin to intervene – and his terrible reason for returning home closes in upon them all.' (Publication summary)
