by Fiona Capp
My profound thanks to Tanya Clarke, Anna Murdoch, Colleen Keane, Cheryl Donohue, Jane Collins, Catherine Milne, Nicola Robinson, Amanda O’Connell, Jeff Sparrow, Hilary McPhee, John Banville, Jason Steger, Gaby Naher, Margaret and Graham Capp, Meredith Capp, Melinda Capp, Steven Carroll and Leo Carroll-Capp.
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An evocative portrait of the cost paid by those who are drawn into the public spotlight against their will.
Shy and idealistic, Esther Chatwin is Australia's reluctant First Lady. She longs to return to the anonymity of her old life. But her husband’s sudden political success has turned the media spotlight on her and her only escape is to Gotland, the fabled island in the Baltic Sea that she loves. A special place, it’s also home to the enigmatic sculptor Sven, another idealist with a troubled past. Even on the other side of the world, deeply private events become everyone’s business, and Esther must struggle to overcome the forces – within and without – that threaten to destroy her.
‘A mature, intelligent, perceptive book.’ – Caroline Baum
‘Although Gotland is a physically small novel, it is enormous in its scope and complexity.’ – Meredith Jaffee, The Hoopla
‘Stately, thoughtful, slow-burner of a novel.’
– Geordie Williamson, The Australian
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
FIONA CAPP is the author of five novels and three works of nonfiction. Her books have been published internationally and have been shortlisted for many prizes, including the Victorian Premier’s Award, the Adelaide Festival Award for Literature, the Queensland Literary Award, The Age Book of the Year and the Dobbie Award. Her memoir That Oceanic Feeling about her love for the sea and surfing won the Kibble Award. Her most recent novel is Gotland.
ALSO BY FIONA CAPP
FICTION
Gotland
Musk & Byrne
Last of the Sane Days
Night Surfing
NON-FICTION
My Blood’s Country
That Oceanic Feeling
Writers Defiled
COPYRIGHT
Fourth Estate
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2017
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Fiona Capp 2017
The right of Fiona Capp to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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ISBN: 978 1 4607 5280 7 (paperback)
ISBN: 978 1 4607 0752 4 (ebook)
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Capp, Fiona, author.
Title: To know my crime / Fiona Capp.
Subjects: Noir fiction, Australian.
Extortion – Fiction.
Families – Fiction.
A823.3
Cover design by Hazel Lam, HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover image by Michael Cockerill