'Set in inner suburban Sydney in the 50s, we meet Ava King at the climax of his life. On the verge of a mental breakdown, he must face events that isolate him from his fellows. Yet through him is expressed a universal theme—that man's spirit remains forever indomitable no matter the adversity.
'Gradually we see the threads of his life drawn up and woven together. We meet his cold, estranged wife: his son, whose involvement in a tragic killing is both the result and manifestation of a secret guilt gnawing at the father's mind. And we meet the two women who help to resolve the guilt of father and son—the lover with whom both seek physical escape, and the gentle deaconess who is the embodiment of Christian love.
'Sydney in the 50s is lovingly described, and “Mr Eternity” plays a small part in the plot, but essentially it is the story of a man who journeys from being a Rat in Tobruk to being a new man in Newtown.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
