Fiction

South of Darkness by John Marsden

Item: South of Darkness
Author: Ruth Starke

by Ruth Starke •

November 2014, no. 366

Macmillan, $39.99 hb, 375 pp

Fiction

South of Darkness by John Marsden

by Ruth Starke •

November 2014, no. 366

It is sobering to think that the thousands of teenagers who in 1987 eagerly devoured John Marsden’s first novel, So Much To Tell You, and sent it and the author spinning into bestsellerdom are now in their forties – and as such, the target readership for his first adult novel, South of Darkness, a transportation saga that covers some familiar ground with a light tread.

Ruth Starke

Dr Ruth Starke (1946-2022) was a writer, critic and creative writing teacher. She held Academic Status at Flinders University where she was the Editor, Creative Writing, for Transnational Literature. She was a regular and longtime book reviewer for Australian Book Review, Viewpoint, and Radio Adelaide, and a past Chair of the SA Writers Centre. She published more than twenty-five books for young readers.