The issue of gay and lesbian families has been topical in recent years, and Halls is to be commended for choosing to explore it in his text. However, Cindy Lee’s controversial request and its repercussions are almost hidden under a range of subplots involving Aboriginal art, workplace politics and criminal activity. The reader is left wondering whether Halls is trying to distance himself from the political debate surrounding the novel’s central issue, or whether he is simply unable to merge a number of (quite interesting) ideas to form a cohesive narrative.

Halls’s prose is even more problematic. The Museum is riddled with clichés: examples being ‘blood ... is thicker than water’ and ‘been there, done that’. The term ‘queer’ is used to describe something strange or unusual, with no apparent sense of this term’s notorious sexual connotations. Also, Halls provides extensive descriptions of everything, from the contents of a meal to the everyday lives of his characters.

The Museum is an example of how good ideas and intentions do not always make for a satisfactory read. Halls would benefit from adhering to the old writer’s adage of ‘more show, less tell’. A focus on creating fresh, exciting prose would also help.