In the Wet

By Nevil Shute (read by Gary Waldhorn) Published

The parson's cautionary tale within a tale

 

Nevil Shute has never been afraid to take on the mystical in his writing. Parson Roger Hargreaves is a circuit preacher in Queensland, AU in the early 1950s. This is his story and what a wild complicated story it is. Stevie the town drunk is dying from a painful unnamed disease and they are giving him morphine and then opium to control the pain. The parson is at his bedside, trying to do his pastoral duty but he is currently dealing with a recurrence of malaria and is in as much of a stupor as is the dying man. Their thoughts and dreams merge in the never-never as Roger dreams of Britain 35 years in the future. Hang on for the ride.

Warning: if the casual use of the "n" word and the depiction of the racism that was prevalent in society in the 1950s are a turn off for you, then you should look elsewhere for your next read.

Four and half stars for a well-written and well-delivered yarn and for the author's willingness to take on the social and racist mores of the time.