The Rope Dancer is the story of Rick, a mountaineer who sustained serious injuries while climbing Khan Tengri, a mountain in Kazakhstan. Rick has lost some of his toes to frostbite, has had skin grafts to his face, and has suffered a cerebral oedema, leaving him with an unreliable memory and agonising migraines. He leads a shuffling existence in a chook shed at the back of a house in Melbourne, where he seems terribly lost and alone, and oddly detached from his own life. When his former climbing partner, Rory, re-appears, Rick’s quiet existence is ruptured. Rory persuades him to take part in a new mountaineering venture. Rick is to teach a famous writer, Sara Smith, mountaineering basics in preparation for more advanced climbing trips overseas, culminating in a trip to Kazakhstan and Khan Tengri.

Rick’s friendship with Sara and his gradual re-emergence into the hustle and flow of life are compellingly handled; it’s difficult not to be swept up in the undertow of Rick’s narration. Leach is a fine observer, and can turn a nice phrase, but he strikes a few false notes. Rory, for instance, veers perilously close to caricature, more a foil to Rick, and a ‘character type’, than a fully realised character. But it would be churlish to concentrate on faults. This novel is sensitive, sad and real.