Carrots and Jaffas. Howard Goldenberg

Carrots and Jaffas tells the story of two red-headed identical twins whose oneness is ruptured when one of them is kidnapped. Their startling intimacy is both a strength and a fault line in their being, and once separated, their individuality emerges. In the course of this exhilarating domestic tale set in Melbourne and the Flinders Ranges, the reader encounters the twins' parents – emotional, scripture-quoting Luisa and calm Bernard – as well as two remarkable storytellers, Doc, an eccentric outback doctor and Greta, an Aboriginal elder. Trauma is followed by recovery through the unexpected agency of story and 'country' (in the Australian Aboriginal meaning of that term). Howard Goldenberg is a doctor, writer, marathon runner and Olympic torch bearer. He has written two non-fiction books, My Father's Compass (2007) and Raft (2009). This is his first novel.