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1st out of 5 books
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Darkness on the Edge of Town
by
Jessie Cole
My dad, he collects broken things ... Where other people see junk he sees potential ... My dad collects broken people too ... Vincent is nearly forty years old, with little to show for his life except his precious sixteen-year-old daughter, Gemma: sensitive, insightful and wise beyond her years. When a stranger crashes her car outside Vincent and Gemma's bush home, their l...more
Paperback, 327 pages
Published
July 1st 2012
by HarperCollins
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I have discovered a beaut new Aussie author, thanks to Angela Meyer’s Literary Minded blog. Darkness of the Edge of Town is an emotionally gripping tale that seduced me away from the IFFP titles I’m supposed to be reading, one of those books that you pick up just to have ‘a quick look’, and soon find yourself so utterly absorbed that all thoughts of the other book are entirely forgotten.
It begins with Vincent’s discovery of a young girl beside the road. She has crashed the car and is cradling a...more
It begins with Vincent’s discovery of a young girl beside the road. She has crashed the car and is cradling a...more
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A crashed car on a country road, a fragile young woman and man who collects broken things... These are the elements which introduce Jessie Cole’s debut novel, Darkness on the Edge of Town.
Vincent is something of a drifter, a handyman on the cusp of forty, unpolished, but tender. From the moment he stops to help the young woman he finds sitting beside her crashed car, his life takes a new direction. Rachel, brittle and grieving, returns to Vincent’s house and a strange and intense relationship d...more
Vincent is something of a drifter, a handyman on the cusp of forty, unpolished, but tender. From the moment he stops to help the young woman he finds sitting beside her crashed car, his life takes a new direction. Rachel, brittle and grieving, returns to Vincent’s house and a strange and intense relationship d...more
Darkness on the Edge of Town
By Jessie Cole
Darkness on the Edge of Town is the latest book in review for the Crusoe Community Book Club. It is a page turner that I read in three and a half hours such was the gripping nature of the story. I was hooked from the first page until the last such was the power of the writing.
Basically the book is about single Dad, Vincent, his daughter Gem and Rachel the victim of a car crash who Vincent finds at his drive way. The setting is in a small northern New Sou...more
By Jessie Cole
Darkness on the Edge of Town is the latest book in review for the Crusoe Community Book Club. It is a page turner that I read in three and a half hours such was the gripping nature of the story. I was hooked from the first page until the last such was the power of the writing.
Basically the book is about single Dad, Vincent, his daughter Gem and Rachel the victim of a car crash who Vincent finds at his drive way. The setting is in a small northern New Sou...more
I heard author Jessie Cole speak at the 2013 Literati on the Gold Coast and bought the ebook version of her book on the strength of what she had said. At first I was afraid the subject matter might be too heavy for me, but it wasn’t. To explain, Jessie’s book begins with her main character, Vince, finding a young woman carrying her dead baby on the road outside his house after she has flipped and rolled her car. A collector of all things injured, soft-hearted Vince extends a helping hand and the...more
Jessie Cole's debut novel Darkness On the Edge Of Town is a tense and dispiriting story. The story goes of a damaged young lady Rachel who intrudes on the lives of 40 year old Vincent and his teenagae daughter Gemma. The story is narrated by Vincent and Gemma, cleverly interpreting there viewpoints. Vincent is a man who is percieved as trying to do the right thing with the intriging angle as a man who who collects broken things.
Gemma on the other hand is a wonderfully realised character who is...more
Gemma on the other hand is a wonderfully realised character who is...more
Simply written but very effective. It touches on darker sides of the human psyche and especially on male violence in society and its many manifestations, from outright domestic abuse to the more subtle effects violence and threats of violence has upon women especially. It also touches on how younger women, teenagers, are treated by their male peers and how confusing this can be for them with many mixed messages that are hard to decipher. I liked the way it highlighted the way society shy’s away...more
Vincent collects broken things. Living up on a remote hill with his teenage stepdaughter Gemma, he trawls tips for furniture and appliances for his house, collecting far more than he could ever need, cluttering up the small house. They don’t have much, but together they get by.
Vince doesn’t just collect broken things, he seems drawn to broken people as well. Wherever he goes, drama tends to follow and he doesn’t know quite how he ended up in these situations. He married Gemma’s mother when she w...more
Vince doesn’t just collect broken things, he seems drawn to broken people as well. Wherever he goes, drama tends to follow and he doesn’t know quite how he ended up in these situations. He married Gemma’s mother when she w...more
In many respects this story of what happens when a man takes a car crash victim under his wing deserves more than 3 stars - the characterization is excellent for one - but I was so disappointed with the ending I can't be more generous. About halfway through the book I pondered on possible meanings of the title and had an ah-ha moment where I thought I could see where the author was going. If she pulled it off I planned to shout her name from the rooftops. Alas she wasn't planning anything cleve...more
Darkness on the Edge of Town is a haunting tale of loss, tenderness and violence set in an isolated Australian valley. On the road outside the hilltop home Vincent shares with his teenage daughter Gemma, he finds an upturned car and a young woman cradling the lifeless body of her baby son. A collector of broken things and broken people, when the woman reappears just days later, barefoot, bruised and distraught, Vincent takes her into his home, and his heart.
Despite the differences in age and gen...more
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When thirty nine year old Vincent rounded the corner near his bush home, and came across a car, upside down and steaming, he was stunned. Hitting the brakes, he hurried from his truck, but couldn’t see anyone, until he heard moaning coming from the nearby trees. What he saw shocked him to the core! A young woman, not much more than a girl actually, with blood running down the side of her face, and cradling what appeared to him to be a baby. But the baby was too still, too cold…
After the paramedi...more
After the paramedi...more
Jessie Cole's beautiful talent lies in the simplicity of feelings elegantly expressed. Her writing is deeply intuitive. What makes her story so enjoyable and addictive for the reader is that she never lets the words get in the way of the meaning of the tale that is unfolding; instead her writing allows the dance of characters' interwoven stories, personalities and emotions to shine forth, complimented by the gentle poetry of wisdom. "Darkness on the Edge of Town" is a very real and honest book.
This is perhaps the most readable book I have come across all year. The story of a father and a daughter, and the woman who crashes a car close to their home, its a gripping story that exposes the different aspects of relationships and how chance encounters can significantly alter the course of lives. Its that kind of book you curl up with, and forget the world for a while, and when its done you wish you could start all over again, experience it afresh.
A wonderful novel. I was along for the ride from beginning till end. Cole manages to capture the voice of her characters in a way that seems frighteningly familiar. A beautiful and sensitive book. It's as if Tim Winton and J.D. Salinger got together and had a love child. Here's hoping there's more to come.
Book club read. Devoured in a day. Easy read, page turner, nice pace.
A compelling story with both darkness and tenderness. The characters were realistic and beautifully written. A good read.
Jan 05, 2013
Michelle
added it
Review coming soon...ish. I didn't intend to read this book until I was ready to review it - I just started and couldn't stop. More later.
An unforgettable glimpse into the constant turmoil that is sixteen year old Gemma's life with her wayward but loving dad Vince and the broken things he collects. The sense of place is so evocative and the characters so well rounded that I felt I was part of their messed up lives. I reckon this will become another Aussie classic and would recommend it to readers who enjoyed Jasper Jones, Floundering or Past the Shallows
Jun 11, 2013
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Jessie Cole grew up in an isolated valley in Northern NSW, and lived a bush childhood of creek swimming and barefoot free-range adventuring. As a child she travelled widely with her family, backpacking throughout Asia and Italy. In 2009 she was awarded a HarperCollins Varuna Award for Manuscript Development, leading to the publication of her first novel Darkness on the Edge of Town, released in Ju...more
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