- I've long been a fan of Tasmanian author Robbie Arnott. His last two novels, Limberlost (2023) and The Rain Heron (2020), were superb. His stories are original and tense, and the writing beautiful. His settings are Tasmania and its wild beauty.
- Dusk is an action adventure that develops slowly into a fascinating tale of character, strength and the need for belonging. It's a contest between domesticity and danger. Human love, friendship, and community versus evil and its violence and destruction. It's likely set in the mid-1800s.
- Twins Iris and Floyd Renshaw, are 37 years old. They are labourers, hunters, and travellers, often needing to thieve in order to survive. Their parents were ‘killer-thieves’, who were shipped as convicts from England when they were fifteen. They quickly became rum-addicted.
- The twins are prisoners of nature - its wild terrains, mountains, rivers, bushes, ferns and trees. And the constant cold, ice and snow. Thank god for salvific camp fire, fish and tea.
- A bounty has been offered to kill a wild puma (cougar) who has been killing shepherds in the wild northwest. An expert hunter from Patagonia was hired but disappeared, presumably killed. Iris and Floyd head north to hunt down the puma.
- Arnott builds the story slowly, frequently going back in time to flesh out Iris's and Floyd's real relationship, its dynamic and frequent tensions. He does this masterfully. Iris reflects on her brother at one point: What Floyd was doing now was presumptuous. And by heading back towards the waterfall’s roar he was, to Iris’s mind, being crass and obvious and judgmental, rather than tactful.
- Many things happen along the way and the drama builds with an intensity and richness that is absorbing. The ending is unexpected but utterly satisfying.
- On so many levels this is a brilliant novel. I highly recommend it.
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