Bronwyn Rivers’ debut crime novel The Reunion draws heavily on the traditions of Australian gothic to great effect. Set in a remote Australian valley it would be tempting to label this as ‘rural crime’ but while the setting is definitely rural, this is more of a twisted revenge thriller with almost a horror-inspired edge to it rather than the exploration of a rural community or rural issues.
When The Reunion opens, five old school friends are driving along a lonely road to the property of their old friend Ed Fletcher, who died ten years before while the six were on a hiking trip. Ed went missing on the walk while looking for water and died while the other five managed to find their way back to safety. Now, ten years later, the five have been invited back to the property by Ed’s mother Martha to mark the anniversary of his death. But it quickly becomes clear that Martha believes that they are in some way to blame. The five find themselves trapped on the property far from civilisation with no water, having to relive that time and forced to confront their darkest secrets.
Rivers establishes a creepy vibe early on with the old woman living in a once-grand crumbling homestead and a group of reluctant guests. She very quickly turns up the pressure and does not let up. As the plot progresses The Reunion also has elements of survival horror. In flashing back to the events of the bushwalk and of a party a few weeks before that, Rivers drip feeds reveals that deepen the present day story. The revelations when they come do much to contextualise the situation but do not make it any easier.
Australian gothic is a literary tradition that treats the Australian bush as dark, unknowable and dangerous. It is epitomised by themes of isolation, entrapment and fear. While early examples of this genre were focussed on the colonial experience, contemporary Australian gothic has tapped into more general fears. The Reunion draws on this tradition as it plays itself out across the two main timelines. Ten years before, the six friends embark on a bushwalk but quickly find themselves in the middle of an unforgiving landscape and out of their depth. Cut off from the world and under pressure, they turn on each other. In the present day, the five survivors of that experience are hemmed in by the same bushland, and forced by their circumstances to re-evaluate that time and their relationships.
The Reunion is an assured debut. The five main characters start as “types” but are quickly given depth and agency. Once they are introduced, Rivers quickly establishes the gothic tone that drives the tension but also heightens the mystery. And Rivers effectively deploys her cliffhangers and reveals, to keep readers on edge and unbalanced right up to the last pages.
The Reunion by Bronwyn Rivers
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