Black Dust Dancing: A Novel

by Tracy Crisp

Heidi knows there is something wrong with her son, but she is young and inexperienced and doesn't know where to get help. Caro, her doctor and sister-in-law, has moved to the town looking for a way to redeem herself after the death of her husband. Heidi and Caro are separated by age, but share a restless yearning. Too often, their decisions have been made by circumstance not choice. Together they discover that the place they love is making their children sick.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Amelia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh.

Look, she's not a bad writer. It just wasn't my scene. I live in Australia and and it does have a very Australian vibe. I suppose I might have expected more to happen in it, and come to the last page, it just felt like a lot of loose ends.

But look, it is authentic. If you like very real-life, everyday life stories with no melodrama (me, I live for the melodrama, see) then maybe you'll get more out of this than I did.

[Stephen Orr]

A while since I read this, but definitely a story rooted (grounded, cemented!) in time and place. A great example of the 'regional' novel, the smelter smokestack looming over everyone's life (for better or, more probably, for worse). But genuine people, nicely drawn.