It was a dark and stormy night... Actually, these words don't appear in the novel, but they come to mind because the event at the center of the story takes place on a dark, stormy night. Carmen Molloy is driving home in a wild summer storm. It is late at night and blackout combines with the rain to limit visibility. When a young man steps out in front of the car, Carmen does not have time to react. In an instant, the man is dead.

The novel traces Carmen's response to this incident. In shock, Carmen drives away from the dead man and returns home. When the man is found, she does not come forward. In the days, weeks and months that follow she must live with her guilt and with her fear of discovery as she tries to justify her decisions to herself.

Despite its soul-searching and very provocative subject matter, the book is not dark. It is wryly humorous and definitely thought-provoking. Carmen's dilemma is intriguing: will confessing to an accidental death change anything for anyone other than herself?

First published in 1994, and shortlisted for the Australian/Vogel and the Miles Franklin awards, A Mortality Tale has been rereleased to coincide with the launch of author Jay Verney's second novel, Percussion. Both are intensely readable.

A Mortality Tale, by Jay Verney
University of Queensland Press, 2004
ISBN 0702234540

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The Alphabet of Light and Dark, by Danielle Wood
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