Author: Georgia Harper
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
Reviewer: Karin Kos
Hot on the heels from winning the Best Debut Book at the 2025 Davitt Awards and then being shortlisted for the Best Crime Fiction Debut at the 2025 Danger Awards, Georgia Harper crafts a story that asks her readers to consider the expectations of women to remain subservient and passive or suffer cruel and violent outcomes. It can be inferred that Georgia Harper draws on her experiences working as a psychologist with victim survivors of crime and serious violent offenders, because there’s an authenticity to the multiple narrative voices in this novel.
Dove’s honest voice is countered by her lover Noah and his teenage daughter Bella. Through these different perspectives the reader is immersed in the reality of social expectations that isolate people within small communities, who do not abide by patriarchal norms. The story challenges readers to consider how communities can either support or hinder those brave enough to no longer accept female oppression.
What would you do if you had a whole day on earth free of men?
This question niggles at Dove, who reflects on it and then shares it with her community by painting the question on her wall. It becomes a mantra for the women who write their responses, who hope to live in a safe society that offers them peace and equality. Framing this thinking in the opening chapter through Dove ruminating: “unsaid words hang in the air … every girl in this town hears them. Every woman. We all know the story. We’ve all been issued the warnings. It is our lot to keep ourselves safe.” This is an exploration of the social dynamics of 1990’s society that unfortunately still ring true for women today.’
Harper raises the age-old concern held by women – that domestic violence or indeed any violence towards women – is their fault, and it’s their priority to ensure that the men around them do not harm them. Yet, Harper demands that readers question whether women are responsible for this or whether it is their male counterpart’s responsibility to treat women with respect.
To counterbalance the female perspective, the narrative voice of Noah Olsen slowly comes to terms with his complex relationships with women. This enables him to become a sounding board for men who are triggered by Dove’s refusal to acquiesce to male expectations. This point of conversation is discussed throughout the novel and by Noah’s own struggles of what it means to be a good man. His treatment of women also draws more questions than answers. Noah’s daughter, Bella, is a young woman, learning about love and questioning her sexual needs in a town that only values gender binaries.
Dove questions why “effort isn’t put into dissuading men from hurting us, given it’s mostly them doing the hurting” and her behaviour creates tension in the story as you start to wonder if she’s putting herself in danger. Harper prompts her readers to consider the lack of interest from police, and the medical practices that disempower or disbelieve women. She shines a light on the mateship that bonds men, and the culture of allowing, sometimes encouraging, their peers to enact violence without repercussions.
Dove’s neighbour, Nathaniel, is one such man. He hisses a threat: I’ll … slit your whoring throat. This is one of many instances of the way men try to control women’s sexuality and submission.
This is a character-driven story that is beautifully written. It explores themes around the pressure of being a woman and what it costs many of us, medical malpractice and the reality of life in small communities. Told from multiple points of view it leaves you thinking about some challenging issues. The story leaves the reader wanting more and demanding action for an end to male violence towards women. Dove might make you angry, frustrated and sad at times but it also leaves you feeling that we’re not going to accept this any more.
Publishers blurb
After a violent confrontation with the man next door, Dove paints a daring question on the front wall of her Sunshine Coast hinterland farm: ‘What would you do if you had a whole day on earth free of men?’
When tourists and local women answer by writing their pent-up frustrations, fears and confessions, it strikes a nerve with the local blokes. With nowhere to hide from exposed secrets and shameful legacies, tensions boil up, just as the town hits the headlines over a missing teen.
As media scrutiny grows and Dove faces anonymous threats, she fears her secret romance might harbour its own hidden dangers.