Five Bells by Gail Jones

JUDGES' COMMENTS

From its opening paragraphs, Gail Jones’ Five Bells propels the reader into the sunlit, glittering chaos of Circular Quay on a radiant Saturday. Told over the course of this one day, and against the backdrop of a missing child, it is the story of Ellie and James, childhood friends and confidants. It is also the story of Catherine, beset by the death of her brother in Ireland, and Pei Xing, who lives with the continual reminder of her imprisonment during China’s Cultural Revolution.

Inspired by the poem Five Bells written by Kenneth Slessor in 1939, Gail Jones’ work is a lyrical and moving meditation on loss, regret and reconciliation. Jones is a master of the English language and her descriptions are beautiful: Sydney Harbour is ‘a bowl of bright water; iron-toned with the coming night; a bounteous wash of dark and light’. Her carefully drawn characters come alive as, softly but with great precision, Jones draws the reader into each of their worlds. Five Bells is a resonant, reflective and powerful work.