Wildlight
Robyn Mundy

Wildlight
Robyn Mundy
Review
by Suzanne Steinbruckner
Robyn Mundy’s novel Wildlight had me wishing to visit Maatsuyker Island (Maat) off the southern coast of Tasmania, despite its cold, wild, wet and windy nature. Sixteen-year-old Stephenie West is about to relocate there with her parents, as they become caretakers of the island. It’s a break from Sydney where everything is a reminder of Steph’s twin brother whose death they are still grieving.
Steph, however, is none too pleased with being pulled from Sydney to remote and isolated Maat. Aside from missing her friends and having only her parents for company, she is completing her final semester of high school. Luckily, the island is home to a beautiful old lighthouse, with glass and prisms and textures that create the perfect place of solitude that Steph needs as a base for her artwork and study.
It’s from the lighthouse that she first spots the boat that will bring her nineteen-year-old Tom Forrest. Tom is a lifeline for Steph – someone to talk to aside from her parents, and he knows the island and the ocean that surrounds it. Tom is a reluctant deckhand on his brother’s boat. Much of the crayfishing they do is illegal, but his brother doesn’t mind which leaves Tom torn between guilt and duty, and needing to conceal things from Steph.
Mundy’s crisp prose so vividly places you on the island that I was regularly reaching for a blanket while reading Wildlight. I felt the storms racing in, and could smell the ocean, the fresh tea tree and the oily mutton-birds descend. I absolutely loved this book. When I wasn’t reading I wanted to be, but I wasn’t inclined to race through either as the experience of being there with Steph was so strong that the time I spent with her didn’t need to be rushed but gently experienced.
Suzanne Steinbruckner works as a bookseller at Readings St Kilda.
This item is not currently in-stock. It can be ordered online and is expected to ship in 3-6 days
Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to a wishlist.

The Transmigration of Bodies and Signs Preceding the End of the World
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Innocents and Others
$19.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

A Collapse of Horses
$24.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Fifth Avenue Artists Society
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Waterfowl Are Drunk!
$35.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Mister Monkey
$44.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The House of Birds
$34.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Visiting Privilege: New and Collected Stories
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Big Dreams
$34.95Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Best Australian Stories 2016
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Waterfowl Are Drunk!
$35.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Permanent Resident
$24.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

On the Blue Train
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Wild Island
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Family Skeleton
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Easy Way Out
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...