Rod Usher

Small towns, as anyone who has lived in one can attest, abound in colourful characters. Or is it just that people’s peccadilloes are magnified without the distractions of the madding crowd? Rod Usher knows a thing or two about small towns; he happens to live in one: the village of Barcarrota in Extremadura, Spain. After a long career in journalism – including stints as literary editor of The Age, chief subeditor of The Sunday Times in London, and as a senior writer for TIME magazine in Europe – he opted for the quiet life to concentrate on his literary career. He has published two books of poetry, Above Water (1985) and Smiling Treason (1992), two previous novels, A Man of Marbles (1989) and Florid States (1990), and some non-fiction. Echoes of that work resound in the new book … but more of that later.

I must acknowledge that in his second novel Rod Usher, author of the widely praised Man of Marbles, tells a good story. And he tells it competently, with some verve. The high points are nicely judged and well-spaced. The characters are drawn with firm lines. The setting – the countryside around the Conda­mine – is well integrated into a narrative which moves to a striking climax. The novel should enjoy some success and may well become quite popular.