Prochownik's Dream
Alex Miller
Allen & Unwin, $29.95

Alex Miller is the much-lauded two-time winner of the Miles Franklin Award for The Ancestor's Game (1993) and Journey to the Stone Country (2003) as well as the recipient of numerous other prestigious literary awards. He lives up to his reputation for writing of subtlety and intellect in his latest offering, Prochownik's Dream.

Toni Powlett is an artist who has suffered creative block since the death of his father four years earlier. When contacted by Marina, the wife of his former teacher and mentor, everything changes.

Commissioned for a new exhibition and with Marina as his artistic muse, Toni's inspiration and creative energies are reawakened — but at the expense of his relationship with his wife, Teresa and young daughter who yearn to be included in his artistic world.

What happens when one's passions and obsessions (artistic or otherwise) interfere with the realities of day-to-day life and relationships? At what point are boundaries overstepped between muse and wife, work and home, creativity and personal responsibility?

Miller ruminates over the inner life of an artist and about the nature of love and obsession with absorbing complexity. While I often felt annoyed with our protagonist, I found myself still thinking about issues of communication and trust, marriage and honesty for weeks after having finished this masterful piece of fiction.

This is a thought-provoking and satisfying novel bound to attract more literary 'gongs' for Mr. Miller's mantle.

Scott Whitmont is the owner of The Lindfield Bookshop.