This is a richly-textured novel by a fine Australian writer. It is primarily about four siblings whose mother gets into a car that has come for her and disappears on Christmas Eve. For the reader as well as for the children and their father, a central mystery is: Why? Close behind that, for the reader, is What happens next? What is the effect on those left behind? I’d read this faster, but I fear that when I get to the end I’ll be sorry there isn’t more to read.This is being published in the US under the title “Without a Backward Glance”.