Fiction

Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett

Item: Past the Shallows
Author: Amy Baillieu

by Amy Baillieu •

July–August 2012, no. 343

Hachette Australia, $26.99 pb, 272 pp, 9780733626579

Fiction

Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett

by Amy Baillieu •

July–August 2012, no. 343

The beauty and danger of the ocean and its unpredictable nature have long been fertile subjects for artists and writers, and the sea a popular and potent metaphor. In Favel Parrett’s trim, lyrical début novel Past the Shallows, shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award,the sea is once again symbolic. In fact, nearly everything in this novel feels symbolic, sometimes distractingly so.

Amy Baillieu

By this contributor

Amy Baillieu is Deputy Editor of Australian Book Review. She completed a Masters of Publishing and Communications at the University of Melbourne in 2011 and holds a Bachelor of Arts from the same university with majors in English Literature and French. Prior to becoming Deputy Editor of ABR in 2012, she worked in other editorial roles at the magazine and was Philanthropy Manager from 2011–12. Amy chaired the ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize judging panel from 2014–17. She regularly reviews fiction for ABR and also works as a freelance editor.