Roads to the South

'What you see at that moment always remains unknown. I know where I am and I know what this place is called, but does that help? If I were to defy the rules and continue along Dampier Downs Road, I would probably die of thirst. I realise that such temptation is no doubt hard for other people to imagine. But I have always felt that way. There is a bend in the road, and of course you have to go up to the bend to see what is around the corner.' Invited to the Perth Literary Festival in 2000, Nooteboom visited Australia for the first time and fell in love with the country and its people, choosing to stay and live for a year. The essays in this hymn to the continent begin with the author's visit to Broome in the northwest of Australia. Weaving the occasion of his arrival in this remote town with his exploration of its history at the heart of the pearl fishing industry more than a century ago and its moment, centre stage, during World War Two, Nooteboom splices the details of time – names, places, stories and heroes – to create what he calls a 'scratch on the map. That is all I have ever done.' Roads to the South is the extraordinary and delicate cicatrice on the country's literary landscape.