If you’ve read the The Art of the Engine Driver and The Gift of Speed you will no doubt be eagerly awaiting this third instalment of Steven Carroll’s exploration of frontier suburbia. The Time We Have Taken will not disappoint you. Carroll’s fictional patch, from the end of WW2 to the verge of the Whitlam revolution, is also a period much beloved by conservative pollies – the white fencing picket is a weapon of choice for beating disconnected urban latte drinkers over the head.

While Carroll’s work is not overtly political, memory and the mythologising of the past are central themes, and he subtly but surely undermines the simplistic pre-lapsarian dream of the culture warriors while at the same time drawing his characters and their desires for escape or transcendence with humour, affection and empathy – and without a hint of condescension.

Carroll has skilfully maintained continuity and freshness across the trilogy, and with each book has become a more sophisticated writer, both in terms of his insight into human experience and in his craft. While The Time We Have Taken can stand alone, do yourself a favour and read this trilogy in sequence – it’s is a wonderful achievement and a rare pleasure.