The Accident, by Fiona Lowe

In the WA wheatbelt town of Garringarup, retailer Freya and paramedic Ryan have been happily unmarried and child free for 15 years. Ryan’s best friend Jamie is about to marry younger Perth girl Hannah, who has become close with Freya. On the eve of the wedding a catastrophic car crash not only devastates them all, but raises questions and issues from all their lives that will drastically affect the future and test the bonds of friendship. This intense examination of relationships between mothers and daughters, partners and friends dips into heavy themes ranging from coercive control, reproductive technology law and various addictions. Unfortunately this is another book that needed more drafts and a stronger editor. It starts with a huge info dump and an excess of adjectives. Many characters are two-dimensional, the research dictates the narrative rather than informing it and the strong feminist message, while admirable, is often didactic. There are the bones of a great story, but it is written as an aspiring potboiler bestseller, a la Moriarty and is ultimately not a satisfying read.