A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists by Jane Rawson
Winner of The Most Underrated Book of the Year 2014. How can I resist!
Future Melbourne is bearing the brunt of climate change with UN Peacekeepers keeping order. Caddy camps by the Maribyrnong River and ekes out a living doing odd jobs organised for her by businessman Ray. When Ray makes a trade for some old maps he falls through the cracks (literally) and meets a brother and sister who are travelling across the USA on a quest to stand in every 25 foot square of the country.
First Impressions: Climate change Melbourne is (scarily) realistic.
Highlights: Amazingly creative. That is the only way to summarise this novel. To have two disparate plot lines and seemlessly mesh them together so well is a rare thing. I have read some reviews that say it became a bit too abstract but I disagree. It was all perfectly balanced. One minute you are parched and sitting with Caddy in an unairconditioned bar with some UN soldiers and the next minute… Well, that’s just giving it away! Also, of you can’t tell, I liked reading about futuristic Melbourne. It is a very interesting society with a huge gulf between the haves and the have nots who all seem to operate off the radar in black market dealings. It made Caddy’s life very interesting!
If I was an editor: and a brash young writer boasted to me they completed a creative writing course, I wouldn’t expect anything less than the cleverness and imagination of this novel. Rawson is naturally an innovative writer and consequently has not had to enrol in such a course to unleash her imagination. However, being able to concentrate on her work at Varuna writers retreat was well worth it (although this has been for her next book I have since discovered; see comments!).
Overall: Yikes, imagine a world where vodka cruisers are a high demand black market item! Is that what climate change will bring us to??????
A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists: 5 stars
Orange Pekoe Reviews 
I can answer that question – I haven’t ever done a creative writing course, but yes my time in Varuna was very useful (but not for this book – the Varuna book will be out in September). I’m glad someone else is as horrified as I was by the idea of Cruisers and Passion Pop being luxury items!
Can’t wait for the new book!
I was hedging my bets that you hadn’t done a creative writing course as I don’t think you can teach someone a formula to being this creative! I might change some of the wording in my review to make this clearer (trying to catch up on reviews during my son’s nap is always hard!).
Thanks for replying to my post.
No worries! The new book will be out in September, but it’s non-fiction and much more sensible. However, there will be more un-sensibleness in future, I am sure.
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