Authors: Sam Carmody
This novel has had many supporters.
I would like to thank Curtin University's School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts.
Thank you to Griffith Review for sponsoring my residency at Varuna Writer's House in the Blue Mountains. Thank you also to the Eleanor Dark Foundation (the voice of Troy Little arrived â scarily late in the novel's production â in Eleanor's writing studio over one snowy week in August 2015).
To the peerless team at Allen & Unwin for their patience and guidance and, importantly, for their faith in me, especially Annette Barlow, Henrietta Ashton and Belinda Lee. Special thanks to editor Ali Lavau.
Heartfelt thanks to Julienne van Loon for her wisdom and friendship. I owe a great deal, also, to David Whish-Wilson.
As a writer, I have been fortunate to have the generous guidance of numerous mentors, with special mention of Deborah Hunn, Charlotte Wood, Liz Byrski and Georgia Richter. Thanks also to Josh Wilson and Brian Dibble.
Thank you to my writer friends and âplot doctors', especially Brooke Davis, Jeremy Lachlan, Max Noakes and Bensen Thomas.
Thanks Mum, Jess, Betty, Holii and Nathan. And Dad and Liam, for leading me towards the sea, often against my will, and who I owe my love for it.
This book is for Sylvia who weathered its storms and got us through.
Stark is not a real town. Its inhabitants are fictional, as are the events of this novel.