IMV A very good book!

 I've finished the book and I loved it all the way through; it was a long book!

Set in South Australia in two different eras 1959 and 2018. The story starts on Christmas eve, at the end of a scorching hot day in the grounds of a large country house, where a local man makes a terrible discovery. 

The police are called and the little town of Tambilla becomes involved in one of the most baffling murder investigations, in the history of S Australia. Nearly sixty years later in London Jess's evening out with friends is interrupted by a phone call, informing her that her grandmother, Nora had a fall and was in hospital. She was very close to Nora, who brought her up, when her own mother wasn't able to. She is greatly upset to see her grandmother as the small pale old lady in the hospital bed, instead of the strong person she grew up with.  The ramblings of Nora, sets Jess off on a search about their family and the mystery of what actually happen on that Christmas eve afternoon.

What was different about this book was that,  it was a book within a book. As Jess starts to find out the family history of this dreadful event she reads the novelized account of a journalist, who was in Tambilla at the time of the tragedy. Daniel Miller's book is included in its entirety, a true fiction sort of account, called 'As if they were Sleeping.'

The story is at its heart very much a mystery, as well as a family saga. It explores the themes of grief, family, and motherhood  in particular and how we define home.

I loved the characters especially Polly (Jess' mother) and I enjoyed the complex family dynamics as it played out.

As the story weaves from one instant to another, the truth of what actually happened  to the Turner family kept me reading. How do some people have this imagination baffles me, the convoluting happenings were amazing. I had to stop and slow down to make sure I was reading all the details, there were a lot of characters to follow. 

It wasn't just the story that I liked,  the author's use of language as well and I found some passages were very beautifully written and had to reread some sections.. I loved it all and want to read another book by her, although I'm wary, that this book will be the best I read by her.

Chrisxx