Michael, an aspiring writer who has recently
finished his PhD, takes a job as the secretary to his literary hero, Lucian
Clarke, a reclusive novelist with a mysterious cosmopolitan past, who lives in
a cottage in a village on a mountain outside Hobart which gives the book its
title, Wood Green. Peopled by an
ensemble cast, the local publican the single mother who manages the pub’s
kitchen, the unhappily married couple that runs the corner store, a newcomer
from Johannesburg with a murky past, a snivelling B&B proprietor and a
determined ex-girlfriend, Wood Green
artfully evokes the claustrophobia of small-town life. While Michael believes
he is making a new life for himself, Lucian has other plans. Rabin writes with
wit and intelligence – and deftly executes an unsuspected plot twist – in his
exploration of the perils of literary ambition and the elusive prospect of artistic
legacy.
Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Sean Rabin has worked as
a dishwasher, cook, script reader, copy-editor and journalist. He has lived in
Ireland, Italy, London and New York, and now resides in Sydney, Australia. When
not writing, he is reading and listening to music. His short stories have been
published in Australia and the United States.
