AustLit

'The beginning of Michael Sala’s The Restorer is somewhat of a slow burn. It’s 1989 and a family – father Roy, mother Maryanne, teenage daughter Freya, and eight-year-old Daniel – move in to a rundown house in Newcastle, New South Wales, to renovate and start afresh. It’s clear, though, that something’s not quite right. The next-door neighbour’s offer of help is rudely rebuffed by Roy, the kids are guarded and Maryanne is strangely distant. We know already that things will go badly wrong.' (Introduction)