Barking Dogs, by Rebekah Clarkson

This is not a novel but a series of short stories told from the differing points of view of various inhabitants of Mount Barker, a small town in the Adelaide Hills that is gradually being absorbed into the suburbs. The stories are linked by location but also by a sense of dislocation common to inhabitants of a town undergoing massive change. The overall tone is of profound sadness with an undertow of violence. This apparently is modern life - bullying, cancer, widowhood, intergenerational misunderstanding, neighbourhood disputes and loss, loss, loss. Some stories are written in first person, some in second and some in third, a technique that could be annoying but here adds to the necessary variations in tone and voice to make the narrative interesting. A decidedly different book makes for an interesting, if not always comfortable read.