Taking Tom Murray Home

Slow journeys are in vogue these days with many of us seeking counteraction to lives that are all about rushing around and getting things done quickly, so this book about a long funeral procession is part of that trend.
 
The book’s back cover blurb by the publisher summarises it best:-
 
Bankrupt dairy farmer Tom Murray decides he'd rather sell off his herd and burn down his own house than hand them over to the bank. But something goes tragically wrong, and Tom dies in the blaze. His wife, Dawn, doesn't want him to have died for nothing and decides to hold a funeral procession for Tom as a protest, driving 350 kilometres from Yardley in country Victoria to bury him in Melbourne where he was born. To make a bigger impact she agrees with some neighbours to put his coffin on a horse and cart and take it slow - real slow.
But on the night of their departure, someone burns down the local bank. And as the motley funeral procession passes through Victoria, there are more mysterious arson attacks. Dawn has five days to get to Melbourne. Five days, five more towns, and a state ready to explode in flames ... [copyright HarperCollins Australia]
 
The whole process is seen through the eyes of Tom’s teenaged son, Jack, and his voice is quintessentially modern Aussie. The issues with low prices being paid by supermarkets to dairy farmers and regional areas struggling with debt and drought are topical. People are drawn to the cause and along the way there are confrontations with local authorities and the police while the national media and assorted individuals all join in for the ride.
 
With its combination of laconic humour, grit and perseverance in the face of adversity, this book will charm many readers.  The narrative is fast paced and some familiarity with contemporary Australia plus knowledge of the characteristics of the real towns along the route will help to add extra layers for readers. (I live near to the ferry terminal in question and could well visualise the amusing process involved in trying to get a horse and cart, plus coffin, onto that ferry.)
 
There a few aspects that didn’t gel for me, however. Why Jack and his twin, Jenny, had to have a rare, bizarre medical condition that didn’t really have all that much of a bearing on the events puzzled me. And being very much against the ruthless murderer bushranger, Ned Kelly, I never like it when his words are used in any sort of inspirational sense.
 
Other than that, this is a most entertaining read that will most likely find its way into a cinematic version before long.
 
Three stars.

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