About: Volcano Street by David Rain

Title: Volcano Street

Published: Atlantic Books Jan 2015

Status: Read from January 31 to February 01, 2015 — I own a copy {Courtesy the publisher}

“In the tradition of great Australian literature Volcano Street is a wonderfully vivid portrayal of small-town life and the uncertainties of childhood.
‘What would Germaine do?’
This is the mantra that Skip and Marlo Wells turn to as they navigate their way through the twists and turns that life brings. Such as the sectioning of their mother Karen Jane.
Marlo puts her faith in her hero, Germaine Greer, and twelve-year-old Skip trusts her clever big sister to know the right thing to do. But when the sisters are forced to move to their Auntie Noreen and Uncle Doug’s home in the backwater city of Crater Lakes even Marlo can’t think of a solution.
At age sixteen, Marlo is forced to quit school and work in the family hardware store. Skip manages to get on her auntie’s bad side from the get-go and is an outcast at school as she vehemently declares the injustice of the Vietnam War – not what Noreen wants to hear with her precious son Barry off fighting.
Against the backdrop of a broken home, the fight for equality and a far off war Volcano Street is a heartfelt tale of acceptance and belonging, and learning what family truly means.“

I really enjoyed this, David Rain captures the spirit of twelve year old ‘Skip’, an adventurous tomboy, and sixteen year old Marlo, both desperately unhappy to find themselves living with their estranged aunt and uncle in Crater Lake. The cast is lively and interesting, from obese Auntie Noreen to Skip’s on-and-off-again best friend, Honza, to the enigmatic Ghost of Dansie House. Rain vividly evokes some of the best and worst elements of Australian life in the 1970’s and the claustrophobic oppression of a small country town.

Available to purchase from

Allen and Unwin I I Booktopia I Amazon AU I via Booko