Fiona Kelly McGregor’s The Trap follows her successful novel Iris (2022), set in the criminal underworld of Sydney during the Great Depression.
In the previous novel, Iris Webber flees the prison of rural poverty for the dubious opportunities of the metropolis. She becomes a prostitute, but gains a measure of independence. Her irascible charm and plucky passion provide the necessary picaresque armour. Beneath this, her basic worth is never allowed to fully collapse, even as she lives hand-to-mouth and at the mercy of the powerful.
