The fifth season by Philip Salom
Transit Lounge, 2020. ISBN: 9781925760644.
(Age: Adult) Jack is a writer, and an ill man. He is intrigued by
the discoveries of unidentified dead people such as the Somerton Man
or the Gippsland Man, still mysteries today, and he is writing a
book about them whilst sojourning at Blue Bay. There he meets Sarah,
owner of the house he is staying in, a young woman obsessed with the
disappearance of her sister Alice. Sarah has become a member of the
Missing Persons Advocacy Network and as an artist paints large
murals of the face of her sister and other missing people around the
country in the hope that somebody will see them and provide a clue
as to their whereabouts. The Somerton Man or the Gippsland Man must
also be known and missing by somebody, surely, so their interests
have some overlap and draw them together.
The story becomes complicated by the fact that the previous lodger
at Sarah's house was also a writer and artist, now missing, and he
has written a book about the local townspeople including Sarah, and
possibly Alice, but how much is based on life or is fiction becomes
very confusing. This intertwining of the known and the unknown, the
real and the imagined, become threads of thoughts and ideas about
life, death, art and writing. There are pages readers will want to
go back over to grapple with the suggestions and possibilities.
It is a book for intellectuals, but at the same time has some really
grassroot renderings of iconic Aussie conversations in the local
bar, and the veggie shop, a vein of humour that lightens the tone a
little.
What is the fifth season? Maybe it's another dimension, maybe it's
time, maybe it's the unknown. That should give you the clue that
this is not your usual mystery story. It is a challenging read, but
it is full of interesting ideas, and I'm sure the book will find its
readers.
Themes: Missing persons, Unidentified dead, Loss, Mortality,
Obsession, Writing, Art.
Helen Eddy