The Lost Man by Jane Harper is a stand-alone novel set in the Australian outback. I have read a couple of her books before and found them outstanding – here’s a link to one with a similar setting.
This is not a fast-paced novel and there is a slow start as brothers Nathan and Bub meet at the site where their middle brother, the favourite, Cameron Bright, has been found dead. Nathan lives apart from his family and is separated from them by distance and history but he is bemused by the manner in which his experienced brother died of exposure and thirst at the stockman’s grave, a local landmark far away from any residences, but with a fully functioning and well stocked car within walking distance. Has he taken his own life ? If so, then why ?.
Nathan, practically a local outcast after a bitter divorce, and his visiting teenage son, return to the Bright homestead for a difficult Christmas to bury Cameron in the grave beside the three brothers’ much hated father. Their home contains some long-term employees, Cameron’s family and some backpackers who are working for lodgings. Nathan starts to explore what his brother’s death means to each of them and slowly comes to understand family secrets and the fact that he never really knew his brother at all. Is the lost man Cameron who died a lonely death or Nathan, tied to his uneconomic property by debts and his own love/hate relationship with the brutal landscape ? This story is an exploration of deeply unhappy people and troubled relationships in a hostile and isolated environment. The book concentrates on Nathan and reveals everything through his interaction with the rest of the extended family, employees and guests.
This book is brilliantly written and filled with atmosphere and vivid descriptions. It’s a slow revelation of a solution to the mystery which is satisfying and seems inevitable. It’s an excellent read.
Anne Is Reading 