The Map of Night

"Dark Matter pulls light waves into curves, and conceals the true location of everything. It distorts reality." Astronomer Lucy Rutherford is celebrating the refurbishment of the 100-year-old telescope in the Yarra Valley town of Bowness, Victoria. Her husband, Justin, is running for parliament, on a platform of responsibility and progress. But Lucy isn't interested in being a politician's wife. And after twenty years, admittedly some good ones, she plans to leave Justin. Once he's won the election. Lucy's biggest concern is how her eleven-year-old daughter, Gabby, will take the news. Or does Gabby already know? She has a habit of listening in on conversations she shouldn't. A week before polling day Lucy takes the family dog for a walk and doesn't return. Justin is convinced Lucy has left him and is angry that she would abandon him so close to the election. Yet Gabby is certain her mother is missing and in trouble. Why isn't her father looking? As the days go by, tensions rise between Gabby and her father. Desperate to contact her mother, Gabby takes matters into her own hands. On the day of the election Bowness is faced with a decision, and so is each member of the Rutherford family.

Kimberley Starr is an Australian novelist and teacher. Her novels have been shortlisted for multiple literary awards, including the Queensland Premier's Literary Award and the Text Publishing YA Prize. Her most recent novel Torched was shortlisted for The Davitt Awards. She lives with her sons and their labrador in semi-rural Victoria and is currently completing a PhD in Creative Writing.