Afterwards, Tom would remember the dog ignoring him and the spurt of impatience he had felt. The dog had to be walked and the house packed up before the long drive back to the city. He was keen to get moving while the weather held. So he didn’t pat the dog’s soft head when he strode to the fence and reached for him.Tom Loxley is using the solitude of a rented house in the bush to finish his book about Henry James when his dog escapes and goes missing. Over the next ten days Tom searches anxiously for the dog, as he also deals with his ailing and elderly mother, his difficult relationship with his artist friend Nelly Zhang and his past. With the narrative looping back and forth from Tom’s childhood, his adult life and current events, readers are gradually allowed to grasp the different parts of Tom’s past and present, coming with him to make sense of much of it. This is a cleverly crafted novel, combining elements of mystery, romance and self-reflection as well as an exploration of aging and the meaning of life. Beautiful  The Lost Dog, by Michelle de Krester
Allen & Unwin, 2007 This book is available online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.
| 
