Ruth Joiner’s short life has not run smoothly: opportunities have fallen through the cracks at every turn. The exception is creating her daughter, Dewi, and when we meet these two at the end of Ruth’s life it is Ruth’s calm demeanour and care that makes us confident that Dewi’s future will be happier and carry more opportunity and joy.

Orphaned in Bali and raised by her adoptive parents in the Australian desert, as a young woman Ruth escaped to the small town of Lost River. Her life has been marked by hardship, heartbreak, and loss, and defined by racism, illness, and her relationships with an enigmatic man named David and her young daughter Dewi. Yet against all odds, she ultimately finds peace with her family, her past, and herself.

Set in Western Australia, Lost River: Four albums is a novella of dislocation and loss, and continues Simone Lazaroo’s interest in connections between Australian and South-East Asian lives.