Savage River
By Steve Rodgers
12 June - 18 July 2009
"Some blokes ate each other round here. Years back, convicts they reckon. But it's friendly here. Friendlier than other parts of Tassie's what I heard."
This is the story of three lost souls at the edge of Savage River – now just a dam, a mine and a ghost town in Tasmania’s north-west.
From a ramshackle hut by the water, Kingsley forages a living with his young son, Tiger. Times are tough and money in short supply, but with good-humour, invention and resilience they make the best of it, bundled together as family.
One night, Kingsley brings home a stranger, the beguiling Jude. Seemingly in trouble, disorientated and with a moral compass way out of whack, she unwittingly changes three lives overnight.
Jude soon settles into a routine that is far from her own. She seems happy enough to enjoy Tiger and Kingsley’s attention, and let history slip by. History does, though, have a habit of catching up with you.
A warm, affectionate and moving story of the glimpsing of freedom and the weight of the things that shackle us.
This solidly Australian story offers a temporary escape into a magical little world.” Daily Telegraph
