Cate Kennedy - The World Beneath

Young, united and burning with purpose, Sandy and Rich are part of the Franklin River protests of 1983. They move in together, move out together and leave the city for open spaces and an alternative lifestyle. Ten years later they have a baby, Sophie. A year later, claustrophobic and feeling like his life never really started, Rich leaves.

Sandy continues to believe in fair trade, organic food and getting in touch with her inner goddess. Sophie thinks her mum's philosophies are lame. She is embarrassed by her neediness, impatient with her dithering and simply sees a bumbling hippy that has let herself go.

Rich travels the world taking photos and trying to recapture the spirit from the Franklin. Phone calls and postcards are the only contact he has with his daughter. After 15 years he wants to re-establish a relationship and suggests that they go on a wilderness hike together in Tasmania. Sandy reluctantly lets Sophie go.

The World Beneath is the first novel by Cate Kennedy, often cited as Australia's queen of the short story. In the longer format Kennedy doesn't disappoint, delivering her characters with unnerving accuracy - the disdain of a teenager, the searing frustration of a man whose life has passed him by - while the Tasmanian wilderness looms as vividly as anyone else on the page. Nina Cullen

More book reviews and literary events in Sydney? Sign up to our weekly newsletter