Meg parks right between the goal posts of the Welcome to Condamine sign. Small print below Condamine, white against green, announces: Population 375. For the past two hours, the road has been unpaved, its surface the colour …

Central Park, New York

Peter Carey’s ‘His Illegal Self’ & its antecedents

Though Peter, who is Lachlan’s best friend, is incensed by the special arrangements for the wedding, Lachlan himself does not care. All that matters is what is going to happen when his father appears. There will be an organ fanfare. Everyone will stand. …

On one night, the worst one, and the last one before Katie ran away, there were eighteen of those calls. They were not all the same. If our mother answered, there would be heavy breathing and silence. “Why are you doing this?” our mother would ask …