AustLit

Martin argues that: 'Central to any understanding of the [Such Is Life] narrative is the sequence of lost child stories told in chapter five. These stories not only relate multi-level tales of tracking lost children, but also trace a plot and follow a narrative trail that emphasises the method of reading and hearing; of how meaning is made and recognised and delivered; of reader and writer following the same trail. The three tales rehearse the frustrations and failures of both narrative and tracking. They play with the possible sequences of romantic and realist narrative, and something else. They also function as a kind of map of the novel as a whole.' (p.79)