On the Pavement of the Tides

Imagine that on a solitary coastal walk you watch a lone ballerina dancing on an embankment, outlined above the marshes against a full moon. Who is she? Why does she come here? Simon, a bespectacled Jewish librarian and reformed drunkard, finds his life turned inside-out by just such a vision. He spies on the girl and cannot rest until he discovers the strange truth about her.

But he is involved with Suzy, a dreamy misfit who works at a tripe shop, and with Roger, her brute boyfriend, in a non-Euclidean love triangle. They strive to make sense of Southport, a bizarre English seaside town where feral wallabies, hooded parades, terrorists and invisible stranglers complicate life.

When Simon finds out that his vanished father was a diamond thief, rumours of hidden loot and offers of violent death abound. But the course of true love is as bent as a dog’s hind leg. Through moments of dark comedy and mild horror, Suzy and Simon battle their way toward a happy ending.

This offbeat satire is for anyone who likes to see a bohemian romance win out against the odds in the surreal modern world.