The World Beneath

Set in beautiful Tasmania, many readers suggest the rugged and unpredictable wilderness itself becomes a character in Kennedy's The World Beneath.
Kennedy's two main characters, environmental activist, Sandy and her estranged and well-trakked husband Rich who met on the 1982/83 Franklin River Blockade, have now compromised their green ideals and are living fairly normal middle-class lives. Thier Greenie past reappears when Rich decides to take their 15-year-old daughter, Sophie, on a trek to the Tasmanian wilderness. The trek is the Overland track in Cradle Mountain, a route now full of tourists and hikers from across the world.

The novel wonderfully weaves themes such as, growing old and compromising your values, raising children in a commercial environment, the importance of protecting the wilderness and the unique experience of relating to nature.

The World Beneath
Cate Kennedy
North Calton, Victoria: Scribe, 2009