The Meeting Place

2028, Northern Rivers, NSW. Amidst a backdrop of drought, pandemic and resource scarcity, an automated robo-guard patrol system tears through the region and rounds up members of the community. Three friends – Gale, Sara and Lis – persevere through separate hardships as their stories of family violence, stolen generation, and gender dysphoria emerge. With Gale in a cell in a quarantine facility, Lis with two children at the edge of town and the third stuck out on a rural property in isolation while her medications run out, the love the women have for each other shines through. Will they be able to reunite and what will be the cost on peoples' lives?

In her mid 60's, this is Ruth Rosenhek's first novel. As a psychotherapist working in a post disaster trauma recovery setting in regional NSW with a history as an environmentalist, the author is well positioned to explore the themes revealed in the story, specifically family violence, stolen generation, gender dysphoria within the context of climate emergency. Ruth has authored academic articles, most recently as lead author on an article that looks at the impacts of disasters on Indigenous peoples (Australian Journal of Emergency, Management, 2024).