It had been like being sucked back to that other time. Like the missing years, like every year between their saying goodbye at the Sydney station had been wiped out. He’d been twenty=two again, and whole for a time – until she’d come to Ringwood.
In the light of day, those years had come rushing back – and they hadn’t stood still. He wasn’t twenty-two. She wasn’t eighteen. You can’t wind back time to where you lost it. And she hadn’t come out there looking for him, but for Jimmy.
It’s 1958 and times are changing in Woody Creek. Jenny’s children have grown up. Georgie and Margot are living in Granny’s house. Georgie is running the local store, but Margot doesn’t do much at all, though she has a secret, and odd, relationship with Teddy, from next door. Her other children Jenny knows little about. She hasn’t seen Jimmy, her only son, since she was tricked into giving him up, believing her sweetheart Jim to have been killed in the war. And her youngest daughter Cara, she gave up at birth – and has never told anyone about.
Now though, that daughter, Cara, is growing up, and starting to suspect she’s adopted. When she tries to find out about her birth family, she and Georgie connect, but neither can even begin to imagine the consequences of the secrets their families have buried.
Wind in the Wires is the fourth title in the Woody Creek series and will best appeal to those who have read the previous titles. I was new to the series, and was aided by the front of book summary of the characters and action so far, but still took a while to get into the story. I was, however, glad I persisted, being drawn into the lives of this strange, intriguing family.
The characters are diverse and compelling. Some, like Georgie, Cara and Jenny are likable for their determination and persistence. Others, like Margot, are hard to like, but are nonetheless intriguing. It is easy to be drawn into this family’s life and want to know more, though it is then hard to witness the hard twists of fate. The portrayal of life in the Australia of the 1950s and 1960s is also fascinating.
With plenty of room left for at least one more sequel, readers will be left wanting more.
Wind in the Wires, by Joy Dettman
Pan Macmillan, 2012
ISBN 9781742610788
This book is available in good bookstores, or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.