Ache
Eliza Henry-Jones
Fourth Estate, $29.990
Bushfires have always been the worst of Australia's natural disasters and as the climate warms, the intensity and the fear have ramped up. Eliza Henry-Jones explores the immediate drama and horror but also the aftermath as those who have escaped struggle to re-establish their lives and live with sometimes unbearable loss. This novel involves four generations of one family, all female, and the way they deal with the events of the bushfire "on the mountain". The oldest, Gladys, is killed not by the fire but by a tree blow; the youngest, Pip, has survived but is still disturbed. This novel is moving without being sentimental; Henry-Jones has trained as a grief and trauma counsellor, and her characters ring impressively true in their actions and reactions.