Jack drives his ex-girlfriend Maria 1400 kilometres from Sydney to Adelaide in a small car. She is going to meet up with her new boyfriend; Jack offers a lift because their former relationship is now improperly defined.

Hardly Beach Weather is a road novel of unremitting Australian-ness - the sheep in the tuckerbag; a lone woman watching for snakes in the bush; rural mistrust of city slickers.

A good concept, well written and well executed - but somehow I could not warm to either Jack or Maria. In fact, they irritated me almost as much (but not quite) as Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda. I just wanted to give them both a good shake and tell them to get over it! ( )