Amelia’s musings on these form her clear-cut, adolescent, feminist view of the world. Conversations (or rants) about them with Chris, her staff trainer at Woolworths, are amusing and provide insight into both characters, as does the unravelling of the social politics of working at Woolworths (‘The Land of Dreams’, according to Chris). Her moments of self-deprecation save Amelia from being tiresome.

Chris, who is finishing his final year at university, finds it hard to let go of a former girlfriend. He still lives at home, and his older sister, Zoe, moves out during the course of events. Amelia falls for Chris in classic first-love, infatuated style. The relationship begins as a meeting of minds and (possibly) ends with a meeting of drunken lips. To say more would give away the clever dénouement. Suffice to say that sometimes life’s timing is to be regretted.

Told in strong, warts-and-all, alternating first-person voices by the two central characters, Good Oil is unpretentious, insightful, and thoroughly enjoyable.