by Chloe Hooper
First published 2004
Kate Byrne teaches fourth grade in Tasmania and sleeps with the father of her brightest student, Lucien. The man's wife recently wrote a true crime book about a young woman murdered at Black Swan Point, a brutal killing that happened in a nearby town. Kate becomes fixated on this crime. She believes the wife got the story wrong. Kate starts writing her own version of the murder, telling it through the voices of Australian animals in stories meant for children. Her affair with Lucien's father grows more intense and erotic, but even passionate sex cannot break her obsession with the dead woman. Kate studies every detail of the case, losing herself in the violence that claimed another young adulteress. She fails to see how her own behavior mirrors that of the victim. The boundary between past crime and present danger dissolves as Kate's grip on reality weakens.
Genres: fiction, suspense, mystery, crime, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: obsession, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Australia, Black Swan Point, Tasmania
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
Audio CD · Bolinda Audio
Content warnings: violence