Forgetments and Remembrances

In 2012 Australian author ML Stedman published her remarkable debut novel, The Light Between Oceans, which became a bestseller and was adapted into film. Set on a remote island off the coast of Western Australia, the isolated lighthouse keeper and his wife make a decision which will haunt them forever.  Fourteen years later, Stedman has written her hotly anticipated second novel, A Far-Flung Life (2026). 

Set in Western Australia, A Far-Flung Life, follows generations of the pastoralist MacBride family who reside on Meredith Downs, a million acre ranch in the remote Pilbara region. In 1958 Phil MacBride swerves his car on a dusty road to avoid a kangaroo. The car overturns killing himself and his eldest son, and forever changing his younger boy Matt. This tragedy sparks off a chain of events which will leave the remaining MacBrides concealing secrets, searching for answers, hiding shame, and longing for love. While memories can be difficult, the MacBrides will also learn that 'forgetments' - things you cannot or choose not to remember - can be rewritten and recast in a different light.

Stedman makes the most of this isolated location, depicting the landscape - its flora, fauna and geology - with great care. She layers the novel with how this environment shifts with drought and storms, changing agricultural approaches and the quest for mining beneath the surface. The history of WA's mining boom, the tragedy of blue asbestos, and the advances in technology are subtly woven into the tale. 

I really enjoyed this novel as it continually surprised me. There is a lot of sadness that befalls the family, and those around them, but Stedman is careful not to turn this into a melodrama and infuses the story with great heart, laughter and hope. More than the MacBrides themselves, I came to love the characters that came into the family's orbit: geologist Bonnie Edquist, roo shooter Pete Peachey, old mate Humpty, Englishman Miles Beaumont. Even the gossip-mongering post mistress had an interesting backstory. 

This is a heartfelt novel which would be a great read for fans of historical fiction, book clubs, and anyone who wants to immerse themselves in an epic tale. 

In the end, I reckon the message of A Far-Flung Life is that we should live in the present and not get bogged down in regret and shame. Leave the past where it is, and create your own forgetments. As Rose MacBride would say.... "Yawa, yawa, yawa."