THE ARSONIST

Chloe Hooper / Hamish Hamilton

The Black Saturday bushfires that ravaged Victoria in February 2009 killed 173 people and devastated communities. One of these was Churchill in the Latrobe Valley, where a blaze that killed 10 was the work of a firebug. The Arsonist is a meticulous account of the fire and the investigation and prosecution of Brendan Sokaluk for the crime, as well as an examination of the fascination and fear that fire inspires in the national psyche. Chloe Hooper describes the climate of blame and revenge surrounding the trial of an autistic middle-aged loner whose favourite TV show was Thomas the Tank Engine. As with the much-awarded author’s The Tall Man (2008), this is powerful non-fiction.