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Freycinet
Freycinet is about obsessive love and cruel murder in the Tasmanian wilderness, as Ginny O'Byrne experiences disturbing visions of torturous fates for two missing young women.
In Freycinet (pronounced Frey-sin-ay), Ginny is simultaneously enchanted but also strangely horrified by the looming peaks of the Hazards mountains as she and her fiancé, Julian, arrive at Freycinet National Park. That night, two young women will disappear into the untamed Tasmanian wilds. Ginny is also worried by Julian's recent change of personality, and his new insistence that he and Ginny marry - immediately. Within 24 hours, Ginny will be part of a massive Search and Rescue mission, surrounded by people who may in fact be responsible for the murder of the missing women, tormented by her gruesome visions, and embroiled in an eerie atmosphere that is becoming increasingly threatening.
Freycinet is Picnic at Hanging Rock meets Twin Peaks. The exquisitely beautiful surrounds of Freycinet are also the site of the thin, tenuous, shimmery line that separates memory and forgetting, permanence and transience, sanity and insanity. It is a literary murder-mystery that will stay with you long after you have closed the book.
In Freycinet (pronounced Frey-sin-ay), Ginny is simultaneously enchanted but also strangely horrified by the looming peaks of the Hazards mountains as she and her fiancé, Julian, arrive at Freycinet National Park. That night, two young women will disappear into the untamed Tasmanian wilds. Ginny is also worried by Julian's recent change of personality, and his new insistence that he and Ginny marry - immediately. Within 24 hours, Ginny will be part of a massive Search and Rescue mission, surrounded by people who may in fact be responsible for the murder of the missing women, tormented by her gruesome visions, and embroiled in an eerie atmosphere that is becoming increasingly threatening.
Freycinet is Picnic at Hanging Rock meets Twin Peaks. The exquisitely beautiful surrounds of Freycinet are also the site of the thin, tenuous, shimmery line that separates memory and forgetting, permanence and transience, sanity and insanity. It is a literary murder-mystery that will stay with you long after you have closed the book.
160 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2012
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30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 25, 2018
It's times like this I feel sorry for myself for being a completionist. This book had been on my TBR for 5 years, so I kept giving it chance after chance, until suddenly I was past my point of no return (or no-DNF).
Ridiculous. Overwritten. Some really irritating editing flaws.
Just don't do it.
Ridiculous. Overwritten. Some really irritating editing flaws.
Just don't do it.
March 19, 2015
‘Hindsight is 20-20.’
Ginny O’Byrne and her fiancé Julian Rockliffe travel to Freycinet National Park where they’ll be staying at Devil Lodge in the shadow of the Hazards. As they drive into Freycinet, Ginny finds the Hazards disquieting: both brilliant and disturbing. The colours of the landscape seem to overwhelm her, making her disoriented and dizzy. And we know, through Ginny’s musings on the drive, that she is wanting Julian to change back to the way he was up until six months earlier. Ginny and Julian have been together for over five years, and now - suddenly and insistently - Julian wants them to get married.
‘Let me tell you what happened to us here at Freycinet.’
But Julian and Ginny’s stay at Freycinet will not be restful or relaxing. Two women go missing, resulting in a massive search in which Ginny and Julian become involved. What has happened to these women, and why? And why is Ginny so disturbed by the Hazards? Is she right to suspect some of the men involved in the search? As the tension builds, as the policeman in charge seeks to make sense of the scene, Ginny struggles to make sense of what she is experiencing.
‘No-one in fairy tales has a mother, have you ever noticed?’
There are a number of twists and turns in this novel and while some aspects of it didn’t work well for me, I loved Ms Calvert’s descriptions of Tasmania. It’s difficult to say more about the story without introducing spoilers, and this is a story in which not knowing what might happen (or why) significantly increases the tension. And when you get do to the end, certain aspects will make sense, while others may make you wonder.
If you like mystery, murder with a twist, in a beautiful setting, you may well enjoy this.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Ginny O’Byrne and her fiancé Julian Rockliffe travel to Freycinet National Park where they’ll be staying at Devil Lodge in the shadow of the Hazards. As they drive into Freycinet, Ginny finds the Hazards disquieting: both brilliant and disturbing. The colours of the landscape seem to overwhelm her, making her disoriented and dizzy. And we know, through Ginny’s musings on the drive, that she is wanting Julian to change back to the way he was up until six months earlier. Ginny and Julian have been together for over five years, and now - suddenly and insistently - Julian wants them to get married.
‘Let me tell you what happened to us here at Freycinet.’
But Julian and Ginny’s stay at Freycinet will not be restful or relaxing. Two women go missing, resulting in a massive search in which Ginny and Julian become involved. What has happened to these women, and why? And why is Ginny so disturbed by the Hazards? Is she right to suspect some of the men involved in the search? As the tension builds, as the policeman in charge seeks to make sense of the scene, Ginny struggles to make sense of what she is experiencing.
‘No-one in fairy tales has a mother, have you ever noticed?’
There are a number of twists and turns in this novel and while some aspects of it didn’t work well for me, I loved Ms Calvert’s descriptions of Tasmania. It’s difficult to say more about the story without introducing spoilers, and this is a story in which not knowing what might happen (or why) significantly increases the tension. And when you get do to the end, certain aspects will make sense, while others may make you wonder.
If you like mystery, murder with a twist, in a beautiful setting, you may well enjoy this.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
April 18, 2012
Freycinet contains all the things that I find intriguing and interesting about Tasmania, its beauty, its dramatic scenery, its essential, inherent danger.
April 19, 2012
I loved this book. The writing is beautiful and evocative, and the mystery (mysteries really) kept me reading until the end. Couldn't put it down.
October 29, 2012
Amazing - Outstanding - Captivating - Definitely a must read on everyone's list!
Perfectly described and gripping until the very last word!
Perfectly described and gripping until the very last word!
August 29, 2021
Nope! Can't do it. Life is too short to waste reading crap.
I persevered until chapter 17 and then gave up. It reads like poor written teen fan fiction. The mistakes in it were terrible and inexcusable, poor editing! Such as, describing the cabin furniture as golden then a few chapters later saying the restaurant had 'blood red furniture' just like the cabin. Ginny also said Julian 'changed' six months earlier when he came back from London and that she first noticed it when she went to meet him at the airport, a few chapters later she says she noticed he changed when they went to London four months earlier together.
I didn't like her description of Tasmania and it's inhabitants early in the book but that could have been overlooked if it had been well written.
Don't recommend this book at all.
I persevered until chapter 17 and then gave up. It reads like poor written teen fan fiction. The mistakes in it were terrible and inexcusable, poor editing! Such as, describing the cabin furniture as golden then a few chapters later saying the restaurant had 'blood red furniture' just like the cabin. Ginny also said Julian 'changed' six months earlier when he came back from London and that she first noticed it when she went to meet him at the airport, a few chapters later she says she noticed he changed when they went to London four months earlier together.
I didn't like her description of Tasmania and it's inhabitants early in the book but that could have been overlooked if it had been well written.
Don't recommend this book at all.
January 31, 2022
Beyond dreadful. This is definitely the worst novel I’ve read in years. Over-written, with completely awful characters, it’s impossible to understand how this was published.
Just don’t bother.
Just don’t bother.
May 10, 2024
This was such a strange read. Overly complicated but also empty. Read it reasonably quickly but wouldn’t waste too much time on it.
January 8, 2014
I don't know - I wanted to like this book - I really did but I struggled with some of the back story. Too many gaps and inconsistencies for me. the ending was not at all what I expected - so I guess that was good - but it was also unbelievable because of the lack of backstory. I found the main character intriguing but felt let down with the other characters.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews