Vale Byron Bay by Wayne Grogan

Publisher's Synopsis

The publisher of Vale Byron Bay doesn't provide a short summary of the book - instead it contains the following tribute.

'Wayne Grogan's sentences open like flowers and snap shut like switchknives. In his power-driven language he prtrays 1970s Byron Bay as a kind of frontier town, lustrous with possibility and already populated by visionaries, con-men, sadistic cops, tremulous souls and hopeful refugees from the big cities. I read it all in one day and woke up the next morning still haunted. With its radiant setting, emotional resonance and heartbreaking characters, this book glows like a sunset over a troubled sea.'

-- Kate Holden

My Review of Vale Byron Bay

Vale Byron Bay takes us right back to the beginning of the boom, just as word was getting out about the idyllic working-class township. The development dollar was only just becoming aware of the potential hidden on the northern NSW coastline. As the word spread and the influx of wealth began, the first whiff of corruption started wafting in, borne on a breeze liberally scented with marijuana smoke.

Margaret Mackerras first arrived in Byron Bay to bail her surfer son out of gaol and, although she faces a particularly unsavoury introduction to the town, is so enchanted she decides to buy a property just outside of town, which she decides to name The Tree of Life. Her vision is to throw her home open to the people who need to escape the real world, whether it be from drug addiction or their own personal demons.

Trailing in and out of the picture is a string of troubled and beaten down people who are looking for a change in their lives. Among them are the addicts and abused that Margaret is expecting to help, but there are others whose problems are even more difficult to deal with.

Also hoping to make a lasting impression on the town is a young Catholic priest who envisions his diocese growing, providing much needed missionary-style support to the people who have been drawn to the area. He sees Margaret and her property as a valuable part of his plan. The problem for him lies in the funding provided by the church and in convincing his superior that what he wants to do will be feasible. His continued presence in the town hangs in the balance throughout the book.

Finally, as with any story in which there exists sincere people trying to do worthwhile things, there also exists the corrupt element to add spice. With so much potential for development promising to make the town an absolute goldmine, Byron Bay tends to attract the rich and greedy like a camera attracts Paris Hilton. Its idyllic location and fantastic growing conditions also attracts the potheads and surfer dudes. With everyone jumbled together policed by a corrupt police force, the mix is explosive with any event having the potential to touch things off.

Wayne Grogan has set this remarkably vivid novel in the early 1970's at an interesting point in the town's history as it transforms from a largely working-class town to something very different. He manages to capture the place with accuracy and populates the story with a wide range of characters, although he has a habit of focusing largely on the evil side of the ledger rather than the good.

My only problem with the story is that, as well written as it is, and Wayne Grogan has undoubted talent with a flair for poetic description and a craftsmanship that is a joy to behold, I kept getting the feeling that the book wasn't actually going anywhere. There was simply an overwhelming feeling that we were just marking time as we waited for the final page to be reached. While this isn't totally true (the action hots up a little towards the end) the phrase "too little, too late" occurred to me while reading.

Vale Byron Bay is a book of stark contrasts as spirituality clashes with greed, addiction with retribution. It would be of even greater interest to anyone who has spent time in the town, capturing the atmosphere of the place with great clarity. As he did in his first book, Junkie Pilgrim, Grogan likes to confront his readers with brutal honesty, particularly when describing some of the more unsavoury aspects of human behaviour and anyone who is thinking of picking up a copy would be well advised to take that into account.