When residents of small country town, Dungowan, discover that a convicted paedophile is living in their midst, there’s an uproar. Local journalist Joni Miller is sent to report on the situation and it proves difficult to keep a professional distance.
Her husband, Angelo, has been missing for years but when his journals are found, it throws Joni’s life into disarray. Their son, Luke, on the verge of manhood himself, deserves to know what happened to Angelo, so Joni must read the journals to find out, but she approaches them with growing unease. Joni’s life appears to be coming apart at the seams. She is conflicted about many things, not least what to do about Tiff, her partner, who keen to move back to the city like they agreed. Suddenly, Joni is not so sure what she wants. Could she really sell up and move to the city? When she’s finally getting articles accepted by bigger papers, The Age and The Australian, she meets Patrick, a journalist from the city, who offers the promise of something tantalising and new.
Down to the River is the work of a novelist hitting her stride. It’s a bold, unabashedly Australian and very contemporary story, dealing with one of the grimmest issues of our time: the abuse of power by those with plenty of it.
