The Cartographer

by Peter Twohig

An amazingly bold, inventive and enchanting debut. Set in the 1950s, a 10-year-old boy witnesses a murder when he is spying through a window of a strange house. In the following weeks he comes to map out all the significant adventures he has in the labyrinthine city trying to make sure he doesn't cross the path of the murderer, who he believes wishes to silence and dispose of him. Comics and superheroes inform his strategies for avoiding the bogeyman, and remembering his twin brother, tom, who recently died in a tragic accident. tHE CARtOGRAPHER is a touching novel for readers captivated by the stories of Jonathan Safran Foer, Mark Haddon, Craig Silvey, and Markus Zusak.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Australia, Crime, Historical Fiction, Book Club, Historical

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

Peter grew up in Melbourne in the Fifties and Sixties and attended a series of very nasty Catholic schools. One night, during an air raid he escaped - no, wait, I made that up. What really happened was a very ordinary life, punctuated.

By the age of nine Peter was an accomplished raconteur (‘Dear Mrs Twohig, Peter tells stories,’ was his first and fairest review). His mother, a journalist and peerless BSA, explained to him that bullshit is even more convincing (and memorable) when written down. She pointed out that the radio serials he loved were actually scripted. He got it.

It was an easy leap from performing art to literature. During his De La Salle years he wrote quite a bit, and regularly contributed in the school magazine, the Eagle. Getting published was easy; getting censored was even easier. Back then, you didn’t get rejection slips, you got rejection beatings. Nevertheless, Peter kept on writing.

He attended several universities, and studied till he was blue in the face (literally true, though that’s another story). He became a prolific diarist with a view to publishing a novel. But the Lord of Reincarnation intervened (again) and sidetracked him. At least, that’s his story. Eventually, discouraged, he eventually became a Naturopath & Homoeopath, but really, he was a just a disenchanted artist.

Then the L of R took pity, and sayeth unto him, 'Okay, pal, you wanted it; now you got it, ' or something (That's how the L of R spakes [sic]). And he got it.

Reviews

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cartographer is a very looooong book and in lesser hands I would have struggled to go the distance. But what really got me through was the lead character, known only as 'The Cartographer' (and various other superhero identities) who is just so extraordinary that he makes every part of the book fascinating.

Set in 1950s Melbourne (which alone is a great place to be) we are dragged kicking and screaming into adventures that most people only dream of (or fear) as the eleven year old Cartographer sets out to map his neighbourhood, driven by the recent loss of his twin brother. The Cartographer is reminiscent in voice to 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' as the young character tries to make sense of the world around him after the loss of a loved one.

The plot is primarily character driven by The Cartographer, resulting in a shambolic style that only loosely follows the traditional narrative structure, but being so compelling a boy I was quite happy to trust that he'd lead me into high adventure and unexpected situations.

The ending sadly left me wanting. I merrily read along expecting some kind of resolution to all the mysteries we encountered but instead it ends with the character making peace with his situation in so subtle a manner that it wasn't until a couple of days later that I realised this had been the true purpose of the story. The loose ends the author did attempt to tie up were confusing at best, although I appreciate that we are only seeing through the eyes of a child with his limited understanding of the grown up world.

I loved the character much more than I loved the book, which is an odd feeling. But in itself, the book is hilarious, poignant and devastating - all the things a good book should be.

[Lindz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Literature is filled with children trying to understand the complicated world around them. 'Oliver Twist', Scout Finch in 'To Kill a Mocking Bird', Holden Caulfield in 'Catcher in the Rye'. All have a distinctive voice that will carry you through the novel. 'The Cartographer' follows in that grand tradition. Does it succeed, hmmmmmm not quite, but bloody close, and bloody good for a debut novel.

We meet our young adventurer in Melbourne late 1950's, nearly a year after his twin brother's funeral. His voice is strong and distinctive, very dry, that classic Australian rye humour. I love how he would use classic aussisms, but without really knowing where they came from, a mimicry of the adult world that surrounds him.

This is a world where everyone is an Aunt, and every open door is an opportunity for cake, cream biscuits and lemonade. But out lost hero delves deeper into Richmond's underbelly, mapping everything he finds out. This is where the novel falls short a little for me. It is filled with bumbling murderers, friendly neighbourhood gangsters, and stereotypical corrupt coppers.

But in saying this, 'The Cartographer' is paying homage to that pulp noir 1950's, and Twohig does manage to capture an emotional truth within it's pages, even if all the lose ends do become a little confused at the end.

But even then the great Raymond Chandler could not account for all the bodies that turn up in his pages. So yah to new Australian fiction!!!

[Alison O'Keefe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not anything at all like what I was expecting. Really enjoyed the voice of this story - I never felt that it wavered, it was consistent the whole way through which is very impressive. This may however have contributed to my one problem which was that it was a little long and seemed to have too much happening. I liked the tie-ins at the end, but we seemed to have one too many things happen before getting there.
I enjoyed the story itself. Every character was put together so well, and the voice of the narrator was a great mix of fun and funny - with just the right amount of sadness.
Highly recommended!

[Vivienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Like sitting at your grandfather's feet listening to stories.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoa, that was a wild ride. I'm exhausted from reading this book. I thought I was going to get bored with the exploring but it all wound together nicely as the story progressed.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't be fooled, it's not about photographing carts

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aside from the fact that T thought it would be a good idea to blow up the Collingwood grandstand ( and we didn't get to that revelation until page 347 - you hate us cos you ain't us baby) this was a book full of twists and turns and connections that existed in the inner city suburbs of Melbourne 50 odd years ago. Your business was everyone else's and vice versa. I imagine kids today wouldn't be able to comprehend the atmosphere of freedom and (mostly) benign neglect that T was accustomed to. This story has too many gems to record - the chook in the cinema - and the comment "who said crime doesn't pay" comes to mind. Much fun, but with the underlying sadness of loss.

[KateFromAllGoodBookStore · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic! a unique narrative voice - great for book clubs and anyone who liked Jasper Jones. Set in Melbourne 1959, The Cartographer (our main characters superhero name - I don't think we ever learn his real name come to think of it) has "become the boy to knew too much"...part Ginger Meggs, part boy-reporter and part comic book hero.

[The Bookshop Umina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful new voice in Australian fiction. This book evokes the streets of Melbourne beautifully and takes us into the world of kids running free all day during the holidays, a time long disappeared for most of us. We meet great characters in The Cartographer and it will strike a chord with people who remember the heady days, full of possibility, when you were finishing primary school.

[Julie Twohig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this debut novel by Peter Twohig. A rivetting and moving story. Looking forward to reading the sequel, just published: The Torch.

[Kelly Callaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not at all sure how I feel about this book. It has some great aspects and some not so good. So..... middle of the range for me.

We are told that this tale takes place in the late 1950s, a year after Tom's death in a playground accident. Tom is the protagonist 's twin brother who is called at various times The Cartographer, the Outlaw and Railwayman. After witnessing a murder The Cartographer decides to map his neighbourhood experiences so he can avoid returning to the negative ones. He is particularly adept at exploring underground tunnels.

The Cartographer has a marvellous way of speaking and explaining what he sees - a lovely voice, although there are a lot of Australianisms that international readers may not get - talking about meat pies he refers to them as Four'N Twenty (the brand name).

Some reviews have mentioned that the story rambles in the middle and this is somewhat true. Several of The Cartographer 's adventures read like episodes in a TV series and it is only towards the end of the book that these episodes link into the main narrative. The 1950's, from this reading, were both a tougher and more gentle time, particularly if you live i one of Melbourne 's poorer areas.

[Mender · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars. Set in 1950s Melbourne Australia, it's a coming of age story about a boy learning to figure out how the pieces of his life fit together. He's exploring his neck of the city, and pinning all of his laneways and adventures onto a giant map he's creating.

The city itself is a character here, as are a tumultuous series of Aunties and Uncles and a confusing landscape of general adults who the protagonist isn't sure how they fit together himself.

He also witnesses a murder. So staying away from that particular fellow would be a good thing.

Basically the cast of this story is massive, I'm never completely sure what's going on, and even at the end I'm not completely sure what was going on. Lots and lots of threads and murders and thievery, by good guys and bad. Are there good guys in this story? Pretty sure they're just guys.

I like the complexity of the characters, but not the sheer volume of them. Trying to patch how that cast all connected with each other and follow the mc's own story of adventure was a trick and a half and I didn't manage it.

But for the most part it was enjoyable. And unique, which gets points.

[Ian Laird · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine the appeal of a story set in your home town when you grew up. In this case it’s ‘Melbourne, 1959’, so I got pretty excited. But it didn’t work out quite as well as I expected.

I grew up in the 1950s and 60s, in Williamstown, a bayside suburb of Melbourne: playing in the cobblestone lanes; blowing up wooden letterboxes on Cracker Night; skidding my bike round the gravel paths of the Botanical Gardens and racing past the jam packed pubs to get home before the six o’clock swill. We snuck through the fence at the footy ground to watch the Seagulls, hung around the disused warehouses, and put sleepers on the railway tracks trying to derail a train (never worked); and went crabbing on the jettys (see John Perceval’s beautiful painting Gannets Diving). We clambered around the Williamstown piers with their yachts, tugs, scallop boats, abalone boats, tankers and warships. But… I was never aware of a seamy underworld, as depicted in this tale set in Richmond, a grungy inner suburb near the city centre.

The protagonist is an eleven-year-old boy, which puts his date of birth at 1948, also the year the author was born, which explains the surefooted topical references to music, cars and trams, food, movies, books and magazines. The language is pretty accurate to my ear as well.

I was born in 1953, five years after our author, which may not seem much but represents a gap in contemporary culture. Our boy (we never learn his first name) lives in a world many aspects of which I recognise and appreciate, but a lot of it I know only from looking back historically. All of this would be less important if the book worked - but it does not quite come off as it should or as I’m sure the author intended.

There are three or four elements to the story: our hero has lost his twin brother Tom in a playground accident. As he tries to recover he explores underground drains and tunnels as well as any house he cares to enter/ break into, taking souvenirs along the way (he’s not really a thief). Early on he witnesses a murder. He draws a map with all the secret places he discovers along the way, increasingly realising the interrelatedness of people in this close community, more than one of whom has something to hide, or at least protect.

Our boy has a rather dysfunctional family, except for a grandfather wise in the ways of the world, including the underworld, especially denizens of the turf. There are many other, perhaps too many, colourful characters and a couple, the Sandersons, who are too good to be true, or at least Mr Sanderson is a bit too all-knowing. He seems to know what’s going on all the time and never inaccurately.

These elements swirl about never really gelling properly. I’ll give you an illustration. Our boy, in first person narrative, refers to brands of biscuits, sweets, household products, and various cars and trucks. Now while this works well to identify the period the references seem like mile posts on a highway, to recognise as you drive past. While I enjoyed the references, they were there in such profusion they tended to distract from the story rather that work with it and complement it.

It is too long and ultimately confusing. There were too many tunnel explorations and unauthorised house entries which heightened the episodic nature of the story.

But…reading the reviewers here I am prompted to modify my opinion in a positive way. Others enjoyed the 1950s language, the inventiveness of the boy’s character and the vivid portrayal of inner suburban Melbourne of long ago. There’s a lot to enjoy about how we lived then. There are moments of genuine tension, especially when our boy finds himself underground in close proximity to a murderer.

Acknowledging these qualities, there is something to recommend this book. But for me it is a misfire. I thought it was going to be a perilous murder mystery in an historic setting. It could have been about a boy trying to recover from the tragic loss of a close sibling. It is in part about loss: the loss of his brother and to all intents and purposes the loss of his father. Various other characters are missing people or their past. But the story could not decide what to be. I was always conscious of reading a story set in 1959, by someone looking back, making a story out of memorabilia. Three stars, just.

I’ll end with a quote, quite sweet, about Grandad’s rules. Our lad went berserk with a fire hose at school and awaits his fate in the Reverend Mother’s Office. A teacher arrives:

She sat down opposite me and lit a cigarette and frowned at me a little sadly, so I decided to strike up a conversation, the way Grandad did whenever he met someone he knew at the races.
‘Hello, Miss.’
‘Hello to you Master Blayney. You’re in a lot of trouble.’
Granddad’s first rule of conversation: mention something you have in common.
‘That your Morris Minor, that black one?’
She looked at me and blinked a few times, trying to keep up.
‘Yes, I just got it.’
‘My dad has one exactly the same, only green. He says they have the best engine ever made.’
Grandad didn’t say anything about the thing you have in common needing to be true.
‘Well, mine goes pretty well. I drive it from Heidelberg every day.’
‘I see.’
Grandad’s second rule: use their name.
‘Miss Schaeffer, when I tell my mother that I have a new teacher, she’ll ask me for your first name, in case she ever needs to write you a note.’
‘After what you just did, it wouldn’t surprise me if tomorrow you found yourself attending the state school.’
‘I was frightened. I thought something bad was going to happen to me.’
‘Yes, I hear you’ve been in the wars. You can tell her it’s Elizabeth.’
‘Elizabeth Schaeffer,’ I said out loud, sticking to the rules.
She nodded and smiled – her first – and a warm breeze flowed through my body and collected somewhere in my chest.
‘Are you alright?’ she asked.
I answered but nothing came out.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Melbourne, in the inner suburb of Richmond in the year 1959, Twohig creates an uncomfortable but alluring world of uncertainty and intrigue surrounding a young boy coming to terms with loss, striving for meaning and redemption in this curious and colourful coming of age story. In one sense this is a love letter to the area he grew up in, tapping into a rich world of excitement and adventure of childhood and in another it celebrates all the joys and horror of growing up. Like all good childhood portrayals there is darkness and delight in equal measure, as our main character tries to navigate and make sense of his neighbourhood and his life, in light of the recent death of his twin brother and a series of gristly events that are taking place around him.

[Sammy · Rating 1 out of 5]

First Reading Review (2018)

Introductions are always hard to write with these things. How do I make them interesting? Well, this book is based in the late 50s, an era I like very much. Though the only thing that makes you feel that ‘this is the 50s’ is that it had tram lines and had some dialogue about the war. The characters were pretty forgettable and most of what happens is hard to understand and keep track of. I found it to be annoying at times. Like how does this boy (it’s never revealed what his name is) keep running into everything significant in this town? That doesn’t mean it was all bad, I did enjoy most of the start and the whole Tom element. Overall, pretty average. Not good nor is it awful.

Second Reading Review (2.02.22)

My opinion on this book has changed quite a lot since the last time I read it. Not in the “oh this is better than I remember” way, but in the “how did I not realize how bad this was” way.
Pretty much all the aspects I talked about before (and then some) were amplified upon my second reading. Most of what happens is hard to understand? How about straight up confusing, boring, and grating. The characters being forgettable? How about not even remembering them in the first place. Oh, and this time, what about our MC being dumb as a brick?

Tedious is a word I would describe when reading all the exploring segments. Which is really, well, most of the book. Nothing really happens, say for a few times that it really affects the story, which is what, just the beginning and ending? Other encounters are just the MCs small little misadventures that have no impact on anything, him saving an old man in the bathtub, him witnessing another child having electric shock therapy, the same child having his leg ripped open with a fork by his mother. These things do seem rather interesting on their own, but nothing happens because of it. The only thing I can think of is after witnessing the EST, the MC breaks the machine with an axe, but it’s never mentioned again! Other segments are just him exploring abandoned buildings which all blend into each other when reading them, it’s all so dull. The MC in question also just keeps running into horrible shit that is significant to the town, it honestly pulls you out of the story. Yeah, I know he’s a wanderer and likes to break into people’s houses, but after reading how much this kid sees and gets involved in it's very questionable.

Most of the characters that are forgettable were the MCs aunt, uncles, and ‘best friends.’ They are stated to be ‘best friends’ even though he only interacts with two out of the five (?) people mentioned and has no lasting impact on anything. All these characters are given full names and information is given on their personality and exploits, even though we never get to see them in the actual story. My eyes would glaze over when the MC would talk about them, or any other character for that matter. They all just melded together. Even some of the more distinguishable characters do. It’s only easy to keep track of the ‘main’ characters due to them being delegated to the role of the MCs mother, father, grandfather or so on, so the MC calls them that. The only truly appealing and interesting character is Tom because he has an air of mystery about him, and he’s dead!

Now if you have been paying attention, you’d notice something. I haven’t been calling the MC by his name. The reason? We never actually get to know his name. It’s hinted that it’s another T name like his brother, maybe Tommy, Thomas, Tyler, or something else like that. While this is implemented to perhaps bring the feeling of our MC forever living in his brother’s shadow to the point of losing his own identity…it doesn’t do anything more than that. Maybe after he lets go of his brother’s personality within himself at the end, he will be referred to as his own name, signifying moving on from the tragedy that brung so much trauma? No. This book isn’t smart enough for that. In the end, we get a protagonist without a name which in turn just highlights everything else wrong with him. How robotically unfeeling he is, how every decision he makes is infused not with childlike naivety, but pure stupidity. Yes, he does tell his grandfather about being seen by the murderer at the start of the novel, but other than that, all other actions are awful ones. The fact that he kept going back into places that the murderer frequents for really no good reason, breaking into people’s houses even though he has almost died in the past from it, and stealing a fucking blown-off shotgun implicating himself in a murder case (not the one at the start of the book mind you) and then going back later to shoot a dead body with it. It doesn’t make a story interesting if I’m internally yelling at this kid to not put himself all the bullshit he willingly gets into.

One of the things that I did notice more upon my second reading was that I noticed that there was a more 1950s vibe than there was before. Maybe I wasn’t really paying attention, but I picked up more movie and music references, as well as just some offhand comments here and there that the MC and other characters make, so there’s one thing that I admit that I was wrong about. The whole story really wouldn’t work if it was in any newer decades, so the setting is justified.

Overall, I’m fairly surprised at how high I ranked this before. Another bleh for the books.

Rating: 3/10

[Jeremy Epstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to finish this book, I found it quite a tedious read. Too often, bits of action happen one after the other, with no lead-up, not enough context, and not much explanation. I realise that the idea is that the narrator embodies his "reckless kid" persona more, but in my opinion it's unclear writing style. I wanted to like this book more, particularly because of its rich depiction of the suburban landscape of yesteryear in Melbourne, both of its geography and of its colourful vernacular. But I didn't. Also, what is the protagonist's name?! After teasing the reader the whole way through, I thought maybe he'd let slip his name at the very end... but, nope!

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never less than absorbing, this story is set in 1959 Richmond, Victoria, where an 11 year-old boy, feeling guilt from the accidental death of his twin, witnesses a murder as he maps the streets and drains of his suburb. His working class dysfunctional extended family, on the edges of the law with secrets not all of which are unveiled, adds extra dimension to a story which is deliberately a bit fantastic but is part-mystery, part-coming-of-age and part-nostalgia for a time and place. The grandfather is a superb character.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This rollicking boys-own adventure set in 1950s' Melbourne is recounted by the Cartographer himself, a working-class boy with no name but many identities. Took me a little while to get into the story but, once there, I was engrossed. The adult world seen from a child's perspective is not a new idea, but this is a resoundingly authentic and endearing version with a great deal to make the reader reflect on. I loved it!

[Jessica G · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cartographer is about an 11 year old boy adopts a superhero persona and trawls the streets and underbelly of Melbourne, Australia, accidentally stumbling across murders, attacks, arsonists, and misadventure. It’s about trauma and tragedy, and life after the death of a sibling and closest confidant. Charming, compulsively readable, memorable protagonist (in the vein of Adrian Mole, J.D. Salinger, but so vividly, poetically Australian)

[Cel Jel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is set around the streets of Richmond in the early part of the twentieth century. Richmond, Victoria, Australia. It includes a murder or two, and may be therefore thought of as a mystery, but it also includes lots of detail of the sorts of businesses that may have been seen. I found it interesting, and have yet to get to research some of the areas shown in it.

[Leonie Recz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish. Just over half way through and despite the good reviews I have read about this book it’s just not for me.
Set in Melbourne 1959 a young boy (who’s twin has recently died: how common is that plot line) is exploring the lane ways, pipes, houses etc of his area. Just happens to see a murder, then stumble across a kidnapped boy, then several assaults …..

[Damien Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tad over the top but really enjoyable and touching novel about a boy coping with the death of a twin and getting into plenty of scrapes and adventures as he navigates 1950's Richmond. There were so many great one-liners from the boy -i kept wanting to read them out loud.

[Ruth Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally loved this book. So cleverly written, so much of its time and setting. Poignant, funny, exciting. Brilliant.

[Natalie Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book, funny, sad and fascinating. I may need to read it again to pick up all the nuances.

[Grace Catley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A special book ...especially if you can appreciate the Aussie vernacular. Crazy stuff happens but the 11 year old hero keeps going. Quite mad and lovely.

[Paulette · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a ride. Peter Twohig, you took me back to the 1960s with your quips and memories from that era. I loved this book and can't wait to read your next one, The Torch, about Flame Boy.

[Harvey Weir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aussie classic, taught me a thing or three about literature, growing up, and how not to treat depression.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun read!

[Kiwiflora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life looks different through the eyes of a child than it does for us adults! Grown-up challenges, disappointments, responsibilities gradually dilute that magic view of our childhood lives and the things that were so important to us at the time. Isn't it strange how the street you grew up in looks so much smaller and narrower when you revisit it years later. Just imagine how much stranger it would be if you found the map of your neighbourhood that you so scrupulously and carefully crafted when you were eleven, showing above ground and below ground, and looked at it with your now adult eyes!

Not that this happens in this novel, but I imagine our young hero treasuring for a very long time, the intricate and detailed map that he put together over a few months when he was eleven, struggling to find himself, dealing with the sudden and tragic death of his twin brother, Tom, a year earlier, and his parents' collapsing marriage.

It is Melbourne, 1959. Our nameless hero, simply Tom's twin, is a sad, lonely, confused and unhappy little boy. But he is also stoic, highly imaginative, very observant, independent, insanely curious and thanks to his special survival bag very self-sufficient. His exploring starts when his father finally leaves the family home, giving our hero his mission of finding out exactly where he has gone to live. His curiosity leads him up and down alley ways and path ways, front yards and back yards, and an absolute magnet for any curious, adventurous child - a ladder leaning against a house. Up he scoots and promptly witnesses a murder. Now a man on the run, he spends large chunks of the unfolding story avoiding the murderer, and various other miscreants/crooks/scary people he encounters along the way. His flight path(s) eventually takes him into the drainage system of the suburb of Richmond, which he explores very methodically, opening up a whole new world. So what does one do with all this knowledge - he maps it! Hence the name he gives himself 'The Cartographer' along with 'The Outlaw', 'The Railwayman', in addition to his all-round superhero capabilities. There are references galore to the fictional heroes of the time - the Phantom, Wonder Woman, Mandrake, Biggles, Kim from Rudyard Kipling, the Wizard of Oz. An extra ordinary child really!

And so over the course of his adventures and exploits, our young hero gradually comes to terms with the death of his brother, his family situation, and develops stronger bonds with the 'good' grown ups in his life - his grandfather, the Sandersons who live nearby, and one or two others. Narrated in the first person, he is a fabulous little guy, trying to make sense of all that is going on around him, trusting his instincts in these new situations he finds himself in and the variety of people he is meeting.

It is not a perfectly well told story however. I did lose track a bit of who some of the characters were, their relationships with other characters, and what they were sort of all there for! I thought maybe this might be a reflection of the unbelievable activity going on in the boy's brain, but thinking again, if he is so meticulous in his map making skills, then he would be just as diligent in keeping track of those he meets and how they inter relate with each other. But he doesn't. As a result the book is too long, and there are probably a few too many deviations from the main thread. But it is still a most entertaining read, with a most lovable young lad at its centre.

[Malvina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richmond 1959: a seething underbelly of crime, if you believe the narrator - an 11 year old boy whose family is in turmoil after a tragedy. He names himself the Cartographer, because he draws a map of everything that happens around him as he explores, above ground and in the tunnels and drains under Melbourne. Everything he sees and hears, he maps. And because he's only 11 years old, his version of what happens is sometimes vastly different from the insight of an adult reader. At other times he also calls himself the Railwayman, or the Outlaw. You can find out why for yourself.

The book is absolutely riddled with a dizzying amount of tunnels, drains, bolt holes, escape routes, buildings, houses and hotels the Cartographer explores, in ever increasing personal danger. Peter Twohig must have done his homework to get it all right.

The book's fairly long and dense, but what kept me reading was the exuberance of the Cartographer. Also his absolute desperation, grief and determination to sort out his threatened world; to find his safe places among his family and friends. It reminded me of a more complicated version of 'The Amber Amulet' by Craig Silvey, another heart-warming story. You do feel for the Cartographer as he wonders why everything is going wrong. And yet he certainly has his street smarts and smart mouth, taught by his irrepressible Granddad and the snippets he overhears everywhere, and then fuelled by the wild imaginings of his school friends in their secret 'club', the Commandos.

I think my favourite little anecdote was this one, fairly early on in the book:

'I also marked some of the places where Tom and I had had adventures. They included the Gala picture theatre, the Richmond Baths, and a back yard from which Tom had pinched a chook one afternoon. We took the chook to the pictures and let it loose during "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy". And they say crime doesn't pay.'