The narrative is told from the perspectives of Emmett’s children, especially his oldest daughter, Louisa. In their adult lives, they must cope with the memories of the abuse they suffered at their father’s hands and the mixture of love, hate, anger and empathy which they each feel towards him.

Emmett’s children find themselves unconsciously adopting certain characteristics of their father, even as they try not to model their lives upon his. The strongest feature of Emmett is Forster’s ability to produce nuanced, three-dimensional characters. The sadness and the solidarity that Emmett’s children feel with other domestic violence sufferers are beautifully captured in lines such as: ‘The ones whose fathers terrorise them are a club.’ Forster’s evocative prose is another plus. I particularly enjoyed her descriptions of Melbourne’s western suburbs.

The Book of Emmett is not a happy book, and indeed may prove distressing for some readers. Nevertheless, the text does mark the emergence of a significant literary voice. Forster’s talent for capturing detail about her characters and the environment in which they live makes her an author with a promising future.