Penguin, Australia, 2026
Cover design Christabella Designs
Cover image Posnov/Getty Images
It seems that magical realism meets a seedy underbelly in the small Australian town of Possible Springs.
Our female lead Jimny Adams is rescued from drowning by her school teacher Mark Cross. The experience leaves her with the Sight, a gift she works hard to disguise from the world, and which is triggered by music. Cross, on the other hand, becomes an increasingly troubled character.
We follow the story of Jimny, her family and her circle of friends in a coming of age story as she discovers love and finally develops a love of self.
In many respects the town of Possible Springs is typical small town rural Australia with its mix of established families, newcomers and hierarchies. Jimny’s mother Jude craves a place in the circle of town ladies and finds her daughter’s evident difference difficult to deal with. There is the usual daughter-mother tension we see in many relationships during teenhood. Her father, on the other hand, Jimny feels very close to.
Jimny’s friends also reflect the diversity of Possible Springs’ society. Eva comes from a deprived background and is subjected to unfair criticism by many. She proves to be a loyal friend in tough times for Jimny.
Tiffany is at the other end of the scale, well off and indulged. Trouble comes to the circle of friends due to Jimny’s ‘sight’ and it takes the course of the novel for this to be resolved.
At the same time, a spate of child disappearances puts everyone in the town under immense pressure, including the local police. The accepted order of things is disturbed by the appearance of big city police to solve the escalating problem. Jimny’s ‘sight’ also comes into play here.
Meanwhile, a dark drug trade threatens to destabilise the town when it seeps into other spheres of influence.
Jimny finds her tribe in the neighbouring town where more spiritually in tune folk live, including mediums and other similar practitioners. However hard she tries, she cannot shake off her gift and she is eventually forced to make a decision about how she behaves not just in the present but as a life choice. Her habitual avoidance of love relationships, which stems from her fear of ridicule and rejection is sorely tested.
The author has woven issues of family and society into every part of this complex story. Models of family are explored, loyalties and friendships held to the fire. Transformation is at the core of character development both for Jimny and those in her world.
The long-term effects of abuse and neglect come under the microscope as does the responsibility a society has to care for its children.
The author reveals herself to be a romantic at heart and the multiple stories of love engage the reader as we speculate on the capacity of love to save us from the buffeting of life. Ultimately Samanatha Ross offers us hopefulness as an antidote to darkness, the light of revelation an answer to the paralysing fear of secrets.
Thank you to Penguin Books for my review copy and to Samantha for speaking with me about the real and the magical in the context of small town Australia.