I picked this book up after hearing it recommended by Laura Kroetsch, the director of Adelaide Writers Week, where the author is to be a guest next year.
Henshaw is a highly respected Australian author, but I had not read any of his work before and, while I enjoyed this novel, I'm not sure I'd rush to read any of his other works.
Because of his writing style, I struggled to engage with this book for at least the first 1/4 of it. The writing is beautiful but, at times, enigmatic, getting in the way of the story and causing me to flip back through pages to try to keep up with the characters and time frames.
The story, however, is a corker and once I got past the writing it is what kept me hanging in there. It is rich in atmosphere and convolutions, although I'm still not entirely sure it needed the Algerian complication. Towards the end there are more twists and flips than a fish on a line, but it's worth soldiering on.