Eden by Mark Brandi

Tom Blackburn has just been released from gaol, after serving nine years as an accessory to murder. He knows to be careful, it’s too easy to end up inside again. But odds are stacked against him; on his first day out he is robbed of his wallet and the only cash he has. Of his options, a charity shelter with similar down-and-outs, or sleeping in the open, he chooses sleeping in a cemetery. There is at least fresh air, and a certain freedom.

Then it seems like his luck has changed when he is offered work and a place to stay at the cemetery. Cyril, his overseer, has done gaol time too, and is willing to give him a chance. But it is not long before Tom senses that something underhand is going on.

It’s an interesting scenario. The boy that was convicted of accessory to murder, in an act of ‘the most serious violation of a corpse’ that the judge had come across, seems to have retained some moral values. He resists the temptation to steal money from an open till, and he doesn’t want to be involved in whatever is going on in the cemetery; whilst Cyril, the man who loves his dog, is a vegetarian, and who philosophises about sustainability and the climate, seems to be the most ruthless and corrupt of all.

Brandi is master at carrying a narrative with a minimalist kind of dialogue, the kinds of words that drag out of the side of the mouth, yet it is so authentic you can hear the voices and picture the characters. The reader can’t help but be caught up in sympathy for Tom, who is naïve but also hyper-sensitive to the nuances of a situation. His phone call conversations with the girl he clings to in his memories, are transparently stuck in a timeframe that has passed him by; she has moved on.

Those who have read Brandi’s award-winning novel Wimmera (2017) will recognise the connections. And if you haven’t read that book, I’m sure that at the end of Eden you will want to seek it out.

Themes: Crime, Morals, Luck.

Helen Eddy