This novel, ostensibly about an unregistered birth and missing baby, also cleverly captures the subtle class wars aflame in a country town in the New England region (Armidale, thinly disguised). The protagonist is Jodie (ever noticed how no one calls their daughter Jodie anymore, or Kylie, or Tracey? But I digress). Jodie has ‘married up’ from a deadbeat family living just out of town into the largely unwelcoming old Garrow family. Her husband Angus (people do still call their children Angus, more’s the pity) has no idea the woman he married secretly bore another man’s baby twenty two years ago. When Jodie’s secret comes out, she claims she had the baby adopted out through unofficial channels, but there are no records to back her up and the missing baby story becomes national news, utterly destroying the peace of the entire Garrow family. The characters are well drawn and the final chapters will leave you somewhat stunned. I liked this even better than James’ later novel The Golden Child, though copies of The Mistake may be hard to find as it’s inexplicably out of print. Try the library. Marvellous.
