The darkest point

Aphelion can be called a family epic in that it is long and has many characters. The title of the novel refers to the sun; a character explains that ‘there is a point in astronomy when a planet is at its furthest point from the sun, the slowest point in its orbit. It’s called aphelion. I guess it’s the darkest point.’ In this, her second novel, Emily Ballou uses overlapping and intersecting voices. Six characters – five of them female – contribute to the novel’s complex chorus of memory and reflection over time.

The focus is upon time and how it shapes the relationships of individuals across the generations, those between the women of one family, in particular. Set in the highlands of the Snowy River, Aphelion is about the effects of the Hydro-Electric Scheme on the local people, the profound geographic and psychological impact of the construction of the Eucumbene Dam. The specific location for most of the novel is Adaminaby, both the old town and the new one established in 1957, after the flooding of the original settlement. The creation of Lake Eucumbene is the reason for the town’s obliteration, but the lake is also the novel’s symbol of all that haunts the characters. It conceals the old realities of place and yet taunts the memory, as the drought of the last ten years uncovers vestiges of the old town and the spectre of drowned trees.