I struck her. Or at least the object struck her, with me, unfortunately, and as I have already explained in great detail to Clive Partington, attached to the other end of it. For this, I am in prison. This is the core of my story. The reason, in fact, for writing. The story of two sisters, my wife Coralie and Madeleine, the wife of Rollo. The story of my life.
Martin Frobisher has long been known as a gentle and considered man – yet he is currently in prison, awaiting trial for the murder of his wife. While there, he has time to consider the parallels between his own life and that of Marcus Clark, the author of For the Term of His Natural Life.
Below the Styx is a clever and surprising literary novel about life, about human nature, about Australia and about Marcus Clarke. As Frobisher learns more about Clarke’s life the reader also learns about Frobisher’s life, about how he came to the point he is at, with surprises right to the last page.
A complex read.
Below the Styx, by Michael Meehan
Allen & Unwin, 2010
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