Isabelle the Navigator

In Isabelle the Navigator, Australian poet and novelist Luke Davies (Candy) examines family secrets and tragedies through the eyes of his female protagonist. The novel begins shortly after the death of Isabelle Airly's father, Tom. A doctor, he had spent four years in prison for insurance fraud; from the time of his release until his suicide at the age of 56, he fell further out of touch with reality. Part of his despair was caused by the affair his wife, Tess, had with his brother, Dan, when Isabelle was a little girl. At 22, Isabelle meets the love of her life, Matt, who is five years her senior and works as a deckhand and later as a band manager. Their passionate affair lasts for a few years, until Matt is killed in a motorcycle accident. Then Isabelle moves to Paris, has an affair with a Portuguese woman named Laura and generally tries to make sense of her life. Although the language is frequently overcooked, Davies tells Isabelle's story with sensitivity and passion.