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Cargo
Gillian is fifteen, crippled by a tragic accident but dreams of swimming across oceans.
Jacob is fourteen and yearns for his brother's life.
Frankie is fifteen and in love with the new deckhand on her father's boat.
As the story of these three desires intertwine over the course of one lazy summer in a small coastal town, Cargo is by turns heart-wrenching, beautiful and explosive.
In a simple time of truth and change, these are characters who do not know themselves, yet through their innocence we come to understand what it means to be young, and have all the troubles in the world.
Jacob is fourteen and yearns for his brother's life.
Frankie is fifteen and in love with the new deckhand on her father's boat.
As the story of these three desires intertwine over the course of one lazy summer in a small coastal town, Cargo is by turns heart-wrenching, beautiful and explosive.
In a simple time of truth and change, these are characters who do not know themselves, yet through their innocence we come to understand what it means to be young, and have all the troubles in the world.
228 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2011
5 people are currently reading
464 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Au
3 books274 followersJessica Au is an Australian editor and bookseller, and author of the novels Cargo and Cold Enough for Snow.
Au won the inaugural Novel prize in 2020, the 2023 Victorian Premier's Prize for Literature, the Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction and the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction.
She is based in Melbourne and has worked as deputy editor at the quarterly journal Meanjin and as a fact-checker for Aeon magazine.
Au won the inaugural Novel prize in 2020, the 2023 Victorian Premier's Prize for Literature, the Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction and the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction.
She is based in Melbourne and has worked as deputy editor at the quarterly journal Meanjin and as a fact-checker for Aeon magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 1, 2011
Rating 3.75 stars.
Favourite Quote: He pulls back, grins, and she is just young enough to mistake this feeling - this rough, violent swell - for love or something like it.
Wow, Cargo is such a breathtaking story. I wasn't quite expecting so much emotion from this book. My heart is still feeling a little raw and tender after finishing it.
Cargo is a real and honest read that captures the lives of three teens Gillian, Frankie and Jacob set in an Australian beach side town, the year 1992. It is a quick read at just 200 pages told in alternating chapters between these three characters who aren't friends but yet their lives are intertwined. While it captures some blissful moments of life as a teen and it really focuses on those heart aching times.
Jessica Au's writing is stunning. Her prose is gorgeous and is full of emotion. She makes every sentence sound beautiful.
The window grates open under her hands and the breeze is a shock of cold across her cheeks. When the horn calls for the third time, she feels the sound like the lowest note of a tuba through her ribs. She can just make out a lone cluster of lights that might be carrier navigating the darkness. Welded steel on great tracts of open water: she reminds herself that there have been swimmers who have crossed these same distances, some not much older than fifteen.
The characters are compelling. They each deal with issues that we all struggle with as a teen and you can really feel their angst and pain. While each of their stories held my interest, Gillian's point of view was my favourite. Completely absorbing and moving. It really got under my skin and nearly brought me to tears a couple of times.
Overall, Cargo is an impressive debut that is full of heart. Jessica Au is definitely an author I hope to read more from.
Favourite Quote: He pulls back, grins, and she is just young enough to mistake this feeling - this rough, violent swell - for love or something like it.
Wow, Cargo is such a breathtaking story. I wasn't quite expecting so much emotion from this book. My heart is still feeling a little raw and tender after finishing it.
Cargo is a real and honest read that captures the lives of three teens Gillian, Frankie and Jacob set in an Australian beach side town, the year 1992. It is a quick read at just 200 pages told in alternating chapters between these three characters who aren't friends but yet their lives are intertwined. While it captures some blissful moments of life as a teen and it really focuses on those heart aching times.
Jessica Au's writing is stunning. Her prose is gorgeous and is full of emotion. She makes every sentence sound beautiful.
The window grates open under her hands and the breeze is a shock of cold across her cheeks. When the horn calls for the third time, she feels the sound like the lowest note of a tuba through her ribs. She can just make out a lone cluster of lights that might be carrier navigating the darkness. Welded steel on great tracts of open water: she reminds herself that there have been swimmers who have crossed these same distances, some not much older than fifteen.
The characters are compelling. They each deal with issues that we all struggle with as a teen and you can really feel their angst and pain. While each of their stories held my interest, Gillian's point of view was my favourite. Completely absorbing and moving. It really got under my skin and nearly brought me to tears a couple of times.
Overall, Cargo is an impressive debut that is full of heart. Jessica Au is definitely an author I hope to read more from.
March 10, 2012
(3.5 Stars)
Jessica Au’s first novel is a literary Puberty Blues – a seaside coming of age story. Cargo depicts three teenagers located in one summer on a fictional beach, whose stories touch each other but never quite weave. Frankie, Gillian and Jacob each have problems: Frankie with her ill, pregnant mother and uncertain friendships, Gillian the one-legged swimmer with her paean to life and the sea, and Jacob fighting his brother’s shadow to find selfhood.
Like much literary fiction, the plot is limited and the characters are profound and sombre rather than quirky or exuberant. However, Au’s clear writing welcomes the reader in, and we engage with Frankie, Gillian and Jacob in their explorations of trying to grow into themselves and recognise their own adulthood.
Cargo is accessible literary fiction. Whether you are pleased or disappointed, this young adult novel contains no vampires, paranormals or explosive action scenes, and the real magic is in Au’s evocative descriptions of the changing moods of the ocean, an iconic setting for Australian coming of age stories.
The publisher’s blurb describes this book as ‘by turns heart-wrenching, beautiful and explosive,’ and many readers will agree.
Note: This review was published by The Ballarat Courier February 2, 2012. http://www.thecourier.com.au
Jessica Au’s first novel is a literary Puberty Blues – a seaside coming of age story. Cargo depicts three teenagers located in one summer on a fictional beach, whose stories touch each other but never quite weave. Frankie, Gillian and Jacob each have problems: Frankie with her ill, pregnant mother and uncertain friendships, Gillian the one-legged swimmer with her paean to life and the sea, and Jacob fighting his brother’s shadow to find selfhood.
Like much literary fiction, the plot is limited and the characters are profound and sombre rather than quirky or exuberant. However, Au’s clear writing welcomes the reader in, and we engage with Frankie, Gillian and Jacob in their explorations of trying to grow into themselves and recognise their own adulthood.
Cargo is accessible literary fiction. Whether you are pleased or disappointed, this young adult novel contains no vampires, paranormals or explosive action scenes, and the real magic is in Au’s evocative descriptions of the changing moods of the ocean, an iconic setting for Australian coming of age stories.
The publisher’s blurb describes this book as ‘by turns heart-wrenching, beautiful and explosive,’ and many readers will agree.
Note: This review was published by The Ballarat Courier February 2, 2012. http://www.thecourier.com.au
May 29, 2016
I really enjoyed reading this book for the 2016 Australian Women Writers Reading Challenge
The backdrop of a Victorian seaside town sets the stage for a collection of teenagers who are embarking on their final years of high school in 1992 at the ages where they are bursting with 'not yet legal age' hormones, desperate to cross their own lines of innocence.
Although the author has chosen what I believe to be a fictional beach - really? There aren't enough real ones to choose from - I could pick no other fault in this debut novel.
For such a short book (less than 250 pages) this really packs an emotional punch for any reader. There really is so much to take in in this story, and the way its coming of age undercurrent is delicately handled is a real credit to the writer's skill.
I'm impressed, and look forward to seeking out more from this author.
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The backdrop of a Victorian seaside town sets the stage for a collection of teenagers who are embarking on their final years of high school in 1992 at the ages where they are bursting with 'not yet legal age' hormones, desperate to cross their own lines of innocence.
Although the author has chosen what I believe to be a fictional beach - really? There aren't enough real ones to choose from - I could pick no other fault in this debut novel.
For such a short book (less than 250 pages) this really packs an emotional punch for any reader. There really is so much to take in in this story, and the way its coming of age undercurrent is delicately handled is a real credit to the writer's skill.
I'm impressed, and look forward to seeking out more from this author.
January 26, 2012
Oohhh....the angst of teenage hormones! This book reminds me that I would never, never, eva! wish to go back to my teens!
Jessica Au does weave well the stories of 3 teenagers in one town over a summer. 3 teens struggling with their own tragedies, emotions, dysfunctional families, and coming of age. A small town where everyone knows one another but there are also secrets and longings, dreams and reality.
I found the stories of Gillian, Jacob and Frankie touching with their naive view of their lives and what the future will hold for them. Of the 3 characters I was left feeling that Gillian's story ended prematurely and could have been tied off better - I as a reader had an indication of the direction Frankie and Jacob's futures but Gillian was left as an unknown...however I do hope she swam her ocean. Maybe this was the authors intention.
Jessica Au does weave well the stories of 3 teenagers in one town over a summer. 3 teens struggling with their own tragedies, emotions, dysfunctional families, and coming of age. A small town where everyone knows one another but there are also secrets and longings, dreams and reality.
I found the stories of Gillian, Jacob and Frankie touching with their naive view of their lives and what the future will hold for them. Of the 3 characters I was left feeling that Gillian's story ended prematurely and could have been tied off better - I as a reader had an indication of the direction Frankie and Jacob's futures but Gillian was left as an unknown...however I do hope she swam her ocean. Maybe this was the authors intention.
December 20, 2012
Another reviewer described this as "a literary Puberty Blues", and that does hit the nail fairly well on the head, I think. What struck me hard about this book was the incredibly sensory nature of the writing. Au manages to describe the smells and tastes of the characters' worlds so immediately and evocatively, somehow without it ever feeling overwritten. The angsts and insecurities of the three POV characters feel authentic and excruciating, but without taking over and eradicating hope.
One character is adjusting to a new disability, and that part of the story rings true also, without falling into any of the pity/inspiration/cure stereotype traps.
Loved it.
One character is adjusting to a new disability, and that part of the story rings true also, without falling into any of the pity/inspiration/cure stereotype traps.
Loved it.
January 9, 2017
A really beautiful, melancholy character study of three teenagers in an Australian coastal town.
September 15, 2017
I didn't really enjoy this book. It didn't quite catch my attention. For such a short book, it took me almost six days to get to page 36. I had to give up because I couldn't connect with the characters unfortunately. I love reading but this is one of the 3 books that I have DNF-ed in my life.
Maybe one day, I will try reading this again and hopefully my thoughts will change then.
Maybe one day, I will try reading this again and hopefully my thoughts will change then.
November 25, 2024
By the author of Cold Enough for Snow but nothing like that novella at all. Follows 3 teenagers living in a coastal town and their intersecting lives. 3.5 stars, not hard to read.
August 23, 2023
A coming of age story from three perspectives, Cargo captures the summer beach scene well. However I found the book often disjointed and felt the story line never came together.
January 14, 2012
Cargo is a beautiful, moving book. Ms Au has captured the insecurities of adolescence brilliantly.
Set in a coastal town in around the late 1990s or early 2000s, Cargo follows three teenagers over a period of several summer and autumn months: Frankie, Gillian and Jacob. Frankie is the daughter of a local entrepreneur, Gillian is rediscovering herself after a serious accident a year or two previously, and Jacob is trying to get out of the shadow of his older brother.
The novel explores friendships, family, sexuality and a growing awareness of what adulthood will mean for each of the three characters.
All characters are apparently heterosexual and white, but some class issues are explored, as are some issues relating to people with disabilities.
This is the kind of YA book which adults will also find it very easy to enjoy (and quick to read). In the first place, the writing is excellent. Secondly, Ms Au's characters are not only well-written and believable, but easy to sympathise with. The thoughts and emotions of each main character are drawn rather than described, so the reader thinks and feels along with the characters without even trying, and with understanding rather than a feeling of being told.
I put the book down feeling hope for each character, looking forward to their futures in much the same way I looked forward to my own when I was an adolescent.
Set in a coastal town in around the late 1990s or early 2000s, Cargo follows three teenagers over a period of several summer and autumn months: Frankie, Gillian and Jacob. Frankie is the daughter of a local entrepreneur, Gillian is rediscovering herself after a serious accident a year or two previously, and Jacob is trying to get out of the shadow of his older brother.
The novel explores friendships, family, sexuality and a growing awareness of what adulthood will mean for each of the three characters.
All characters are apparently heterosexual and white, but some class issues are explored, as are some issues relating to people with disabilities.
This is the kind of YA book which adults will also find it very easy to enjoy (and quick to read). In the first place, the writing is excellent. Secondly, Ms Au's characters are not only well-written and believable, but easy to sympathise with. The thoughts and emotions of each main character are drawn rather than described, so the reader thinks and feels along with the characters without even trying, and with understanding rather than a feeling of being told.
I put the book down feeling hope for each character, looking forward to their futures in much the same way I looked forward to my own when I was an adolescent.
January 15, 2015
This book was so... subtle- I liked it. Although the novel presented much emotion, it added a slice of friendship and love in one corner, a pinch of personal conflict in the other, and none of these elements was too overwhelming nor overpowering in that sense- it was refreshing to read.
I think that this book differs from every other book that associates with teenagers in love within a beach setting. This book was so light and refreshing, and such a reflection of the TV series 'puberty blues' in the sense that it incorporates young and naive teenagers being stuck in between love, family, friends, and most importantly- themselves.
I think that this book differs from every other book that associates with teenagers in love within a beach setting. This book was so light and refreshing, and such a reflection of the TV series 'puberty blues' in the sense that it incorporates young and naive teenagers being stuck in between love, family, friends, and most importantly- themselves.
May 17, 2016
The book follows three 14/15 year olds over the summer of 1991/1992 in a small coastal town. The writing is as good as it gets in the YA genre - you can smell the beach, hear the waves, be touched by the sun. The three characters all have raging hormones and are touched by desire, breaking away from parents, broken hearts, rebellion and trying to balancing these with their family responsibilities and dreams for the future. There is bullying, making mistakes, moving on, family tragedy.
For a little book it punches above it's weight.
For a little book it punches above it's weight.
December 14, 2016
it's really a trio of character studies, about how horrible it is to be a teenager. There are so many feelings. There is a predatory/domination male power dynamic subtext to each charaters and I'm not sure how deliberate that was.
that's two stars.
the third star was because the descriptions of the Australian coastal summer gave me powerful sense memories. It really took me right back. It was really the setting that I loved, rather than the characters.
that's two stars.
the third star was because the descriptions of the Australian coastal summer gave me powerful sense memories. It really took me right back. It was really the setting that I loved, rather than the characters.
January 5, 2016
I was surprised by the simple yet effective style that this coming of age novel. Concerning the lives of three teenagers in a seaside town as they experience that growing stage from childhood into early adulthood. An excellent first novel and I will be interested to see what this author does in the future.
June 22, 2015
Thank you to Macmillan for this review copy!
Cargo didn't work for me, though I do think it could've- the characters, from memory, didn't make choices I could understand, and acted in ways I found it difficult to follow or agree with.
Cargo didn't work for me, though I do think it could've- the characters, from memory, didn't make choices I could understand, and acted in ways I found it difficult to follow or agree with.
June 17, 2012
Nice coming of age story set in a seaside Australian small town. Interesting characters, however the book is much more descriptive than narrative. But a nice short read capturing that seaside small town/adolescent malaise quite well.
November 6, 2011
A brief but very effective novel that evokes the characters and their inner turmoil. Beautifully written - an intelligent coming of age novel.
July 29, 2012
Engaging and beautifully written - but the coming-of-age plot itself wasn't the most inspiring. Still, Au is a great writer and looking forward to what she does next.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews