Come Inside

by G.L. Osborne

A ship is wrecked in 1887 near the small country town of Colego. The sea throws up one troubled survivor who claims to know only her name.

Glenys Osborne's compelling first novel traces the impact of the loss of the Lucy on the town of Colego and how the tidal pull of this event shapes and disturbs those who come after.

170 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deliciously creepy and, for me, entirely unresolved. I wouldn't mind that, except that some people (I'm looking at you, Lisa Hill) apparently managed to figure this out. Still, even with the pain of not understanding, I thought this was great. So full of clues, most of which probably mean nothing, and so, so eerie.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come Inside is only a slender novel of 170 pages but I lingered over it because it’s so intriguing. I now know why it’s been shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year and for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book.

It has a compelling beginning. The story of a woman who survives an 1887 shipwreck with no memory of anything except her name begins with a series of reports that gradually reveal themselves to be the contents of a contemporary maritime museum: a newspaper report, records of interviews, customs reports, museum exhibit cards and so on. It may sound like a muddle, but it builds a coherent picture that catapults the reader back into the past while at the same time depicting how the characters looked back on the event 60 years later.

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[jeniwren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This slim novel is the story of a shipwreck in 1887 near a small country town. There is one survivor who has no memory except that she knows her name. As this woman recovers she pieces together the events and the narration goes back and forward through time to when she was aboard the ship. Throughout there are also sections which are responses from the townspeople in the form of letters, newspaper snippets and interviews some years later which propel the story. These present feelings that initially she is hailed as a survivor but then leads to suspicion that she is lying about her identity. I enjoyed the unusual structure of this book but did at times find myself a little lost due to the many perspectives.

[Toni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was wrong with my earlier comment. This book is not a gem, it is a burnished and faceted object, lovely to hold and behold, compelling to contemplate. Loved it. Also enjoyed the evidence of the author's Australian-ness despite the deeply bourgeois Parisian setting - a child wearing a "jumper", and man wearing a "skivvy", someone being prepared to "give it a go".

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just couldn't finish this book. As I said before debut novels can be brilliant or like this completely over ambitious. I had to give it one star as you cannot give a book a rating of zero stars.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

the book was very confusing at times and i felt i didnt get to know the characters as much as i wanted to. also the ending was weird and we dont know what is ment to happen next.