Australia, presented as a rugged frontier, has long been a bountiful source for storytellers and poets. Past the Shallows hosts the rough southern region of Tasmania as the background to a family’s struggle against nature, modernisation, isolation and even themselves. The landscape mirrors the lives of the family with the remote isolation typifying the children’s fractured place in the world and the turbulent sea, a strong metaphor for the volatile and emotive atmosphere that surrounds the family and indeed the community.

The family is caught between two worlds. A modern approach to abalone farming has surpassed the family’s traditional approach and placed immense pressure on them to take risks. A once reasonably stable homelife is disrupted by affairs, money problems and death. A father, unable to cope, spirals out of control while his community watches from the sidelines unable or unwilling to intervene. There are those that are trapped in the isolation and those that will get away.

Despite the clever literary devices that have been employed it is Favel Parrett’s life that has shaped this, her first novel. Having lived in Hobart she is familiar with the Tasmanian coast. Her childhood was dotted by trips to the beach looking for treasures and surfing. Her relationship with her brother as a source of companionship and security is also seen throughout Past the Shallows. The blend of memory and fiction provide a rich tapestry of human experience and aid the reader by giving a voice to the often voiceless children in these difficult situations.

Perhaps overall the title, reflecting the ocean, is the greatest insight into the human experience in this text. Beautiful, mysterious, frightening and at times treacherous, the many moods of the ocean when it is fully contemplated, when we push past the shallow understanding or façade, show us the multi-faceted nature and humanity of family life. It is this depth that has propelled the novel to national and international success.