Third book of the trilogy so the characters and the suburb were familiar. Events progress slowly with lengthy decriptions of the main characters thoughts and the author's voice of what happens in the future (this is a bit disconcerting for the reader). ( )

The blurb claims it is 'a meditation on the rhythms of suburban life'. Alas I find said suburban life quite dull. I also found it surprisingly lacking in local flavour ... Felt like the characters could have been anywhere really, which was odd for a work built around the idea of a suburb's centenary. Most poignant aspect the one-sided love of Michael for Madeleine, but not remarkable enough to warrant another star. ( )

This book, and indeed the trilogy it forms part of, has a whiff of pretentiousness about it. It's almost as though Carroll is consciously trying to write the great Australian novel; a book which makes profound statements about the nature of suburban society. I suppose (almost) all authors have visions of their own grandeur, but it doesn't always come across so obviously. Almost the entire book is written from the point of view of an external observer and the total amount of direct dialog would probably occupy less than one page. It's as though the narrator is teaching us a lesson on the social history of Australian post-war suburbia, rather than making the reader a part of that society. That's not necessarily bad, and indeed there's lots of good aspects of this approach. The story is worth telling and I did enjoy reading it. The characters are definitely realistic and as a suburban baby-boom Australian I felt very much that this was my society. I just think a more subtle approach would in the end be more effective. ( )

Suburban Melbourne, 1970. I was there, had forgotten much about it until reading this beautiful reminder ( )

Too slow for me, gradual unfolding of characters' lives. Didn't feel any sympathy with them - too much at a distance.