Holden's Performance is the sprawling tale of Holden Shadbolt, a guileless and matter-of-fact man, who passes through the Australian landscape, seeing the world around him flickering by in black and white. He develops a reputation for silence and reliability, and for an amazing photographic memory, making him useful to men of power and women who appear to need protection. His life compels him from the straight tramlines of Adelaide to the irregularities of Sydney, and on to Canberra, where streets form ever-decreasing circles.

Holden Shadbolt is surrounded by flamboyant characters: Frank McBee, ebullient ex-corporal, scrap dealer and tycoon; Vern Hartnett, earnest proof-reader and provider of a factual diet; the comely usherette next door, teacher of the facts of life; and finally Colonel Light, who beckons Holden to join his team of bodyguards to prime ministers.

'Superbly written; extraordinarily wide-ranging and inventive.' Times on Sunday