AustLit

'Grief. Recriminations. Redemption. Will tragedy bring a family closer together or tear it apart? The Brennan family have recently arrived in the warmth of Murwillumbah, leaving behind a tentative affair, a broken friendship and overly supportive family in freezing cold Hobart. Artist husband and father Finn works at home on his metal sculptures, while also minding treasured two-year-old son Zac. Bridget, his wife, leaves the house daily for her new job as an environmental scientist. Fifteen-year-old Jarrah is finding it hard fitting into the new school, but the family is delighting in their new surrounds and the novelty of a backyard pool.

'One morning, when Bridget loses sight of Zac for only minutes in the rush for breakfast, tragedy strikes. Zac is found drowned in the swimming pool. The finger of blame is pointed at Finn and he numbly accepts responsibility. In her grief, Bridget withdraws from her husband and finds companionship with a work colleague. The stakes jump further when authorities move to prosecute Finn as an example to other irresponsible pool owners. Defending the prosecution will take every cent the family possesses.

'Meanwhile, fifteen-year-old Jarrah is coping with the hole left in his life by Zac's death, as well as seeing his parents retreat from him in their grief, while also confronting his sexual identity. Sixty Seconds treads confidently, but sensitively and poignantly, into the tragic aftermath of a child's death. It explores the immediate explosive consequences, and the slow ripples that wash out over the wider community.' (Publication summary)