Geckos and Moths is a time capsule. A note by the author, Patricia Johnson, indicates that the first draft of the book was written thirty years ago, after her partner had drowned in the Trobriand Islands. In many cases, a book begun so long ago and in such circumstances might best have been left in the bottom drawer.

But Geckos and Moths has much to offer. One of the main reasons for this is that, in reworking the book, Johnson has not made the mistake of trying to bring it up to date. Its language and manners belong to the high period of Australian colonial involvement in Papua New Guinea. Women wear dresses in sizes such as SW and XOS. The phrase ‘go ahead’ is used as an adjective, as in Sandy Stone’s memorable dismissal of a new clergyman as a ‘go ahead young chappie’. The book does not have to labour to recall the expat culture of the period. It is drenched in that culture. It knows, for example, the layout of Burns Philp department store, one of the few places in Port Moresby where Australians could revert to consumerism.