River Baptists et al

The River Baptists by Belinda Castles is my latest read; unfortunately despite being a winner of the Australian /Vogel Literary Award, it's not up on Amazon yet, so no cover for you to see.  Not a bad story and of course it's set locally - hence my interest.  I believe there are a few other novels about the Hawkesbury River area so I am looking forward to seeing what makes the area so interesting to authors?? 

A recommended movie treat, the "Oyster Farmer" also sets a somewhat interesting angle on our "locals".  The river, it seems, harbours its fair share of quirky people with dark histories (Wow!! How long have I been in the neighbourhood and not really noticed??) but it is really nice to see a departure from the usual depiction of Aussies as laconic dudes from the outback (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), weird city boys (like Mad Max or Romper Stomper)  or indeed, comedic dancing queens (Murial's Wedding and Cosi). So, wind up the DVD and watch some of Aus's best. 

(Ed. An update: finally found a cover copy of the River Baptists......)