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"Phillipa "Snip" Freeman has trouble putting down roots. She is an artist and a wanderer; tough and in control of her world. That is until an envelope arrives, mailed by her grandmother before her death. In it, a check for $30,000 and one simple instruction: hunt him down. With the money Snip buys a utility vehicle, takes on a traveling companion, and sets off to find her father somewhere in the vast outback. Along the way we are introduced to the real Snip Freeman - a child once witness to her parents' violent breakup; a girl who learned never to trust men so she used them instead; and a woman who finds that this time there is nowhere to run."--BOOK JACKET. "Alice Springs is a story about the pitfalls of love and the power of forgiveness - a story fueled by the rush of venturing head first into the unknown."--BOOK JACKET.… (more)
User reviews
Gemmell's style is unlike anything I've read lately. She's got a singsong rhythmic way of writing, especially when she's dealing with the Aboriginal community or descriptions of the countryside. She's also very graphic in writing about normal bodily functions, including, but definitely not limited to, sex. So, I don't know that it's a book I'd recommend to everyone (depends on how delicate their sensibilities are). I thoroughly enjoyed it though.
Here's a passage that will give you a taste of Gemmell's unique style:
Over the McDonnell Ranges lightning flicks and sparks in a cloud like some super-fast mosquito trapped in a net. It's a fluffy-white, sunny-day cloud but it's night and the rest of the sky is star-stained and clear. The lightning flicks and flicks, trying to get out. The air in the night is odd, stamping Snip's memory with its vividness.
And I loved this description of Snip's father's home. I think I know other Bookcrossers like this:
The books have overrun every spare bench and chair and resting place, like a cluster of cats taking over a house and infusing it, absolutely, with their presence and smell. Snip's hands run over the volumes, she picks them up and feels them and smells them. Their dryness, the covers curling and ripped, the pages fanning out like accordians. There are wisps of paper floating from them, covers coming off, stacks teetering at her disturbing hand. The smell of reading is thick in the room.
It is after her grandmother's death that we first meet Snip. She has been given an inheritance check with the three word instruction "hunt him down." Snip knows the him is her father and hunting him down will be the easy part, for he isn't hiding. It's the why that has Snip puzzled. What is she supposed to do once the hunted has been successfully hunted? To get to her father, Bud, Snip travels to the Aboriginal outback. Along the way Snip takes a traveling companion who gets under her skin more than she expects.Then, a surprising thing happens. The longer Snip stays rooted in one place the more she is exposed to the powers of belonging somewhere.
Gemmell writes like the ocean. The words flow with rhythmic intensity, pounding with violence, soothing with consistency. The storyline is liquid and slippery; it washes over you again and again.
The story takes place in the Australian desert, with its brutal temperatures and unforgiving landscape. The writing style matches the landscape: it is sparse, jarring and vivid. The writing is absolutely amazing. I found myself unable to stop reading. What a story, so well told.