First Name Second Name by Steve Minon

First Name Second Name by Steve MinonIn this darkly ironic novel, a dead man walks back through four generations of family estrangements to recover his lost identity. The journey will be long and difficult, one thousand miles. Try not to be too obvious. Stick to the backroads. You'll know you've arrived when you get there. Stephen Bolin leaves a bizarre note by his deathbed, asking his sisters to take his body back to his birthplace in Far North Queensland. When they ignore his request,

fantastic food and wine and heritage and cultural sites

with nothing to identify him

Yothu Yindi were a band of Yolngu (Aboriginal people of north-east Arnhem Land) and balanda (non-Indigenous) mates rocking out in the remote Top End

industry and desire

and even a hairstyle to match your own is a thrill

the victim of gang-rape by petrol-sniffing youths

For perhaps the first time in novel form

Chloe shares her practices for succeeding beyond the kitchen and into everyday life

This creates the balance between giving and taking from the land

moving between different registers in order to bear witness to the pain and suffering of the slaughterhouse

if you're crazy enough to do it

Enemies took her from the man who holds her heart