INFERNO, REVIEWED

Inferno: The Day Victoria Burned, written by esteemed journalist Roger Franklin and published here at The Slattery Media Group, was released barely seven months after the dark day of February 7, now known to all as Black Saturday. The Australian Literary Review this week published a review of Inferno that describes the publication as “remarkable for the speed and energy of its production”. And, as reviewer Paul Williams also states, haste did not compromise quality; we are very proud of the depth to Franklin’s research, and manner in which the story is delivered. It is a publication we believe should be read by all Victorians.

“Franklin presents two humanities,” wrote Williams. “He introduces us to the survivors via short biographical sketches that underscore their Australian ordinariness, yet who stand out not because of the disaster but for their fortitude despite it … But Franklin conjures another, darker inhumanity: the arsonist who commits the crime as foul as it is impossible to comprehend.”

The scale of this tragedy is still difficult to fully comprehend for most onlookers, and Inferno takes us deeper into those flames than we could have imagined.

As Williams describes: “This is at once a heart-rending account, written with a journalist's ear for the human angle, of a singular, tragic episode and a transcendent wake-up call... The almost poetic incursions only add to the urgency of Franklin's message. Florid descriptions of the inferno as ‘fists of roiling fire’ and as the ‘tyrant's torture and the martyr's lament’ don't seem out of place when reflecting on a national tragedy of this scale.”

The Australian makes strong, positive claims about the quality of Inferno, and Franklin’s story telling; read the entire review here.

Purchase a copy of Inferno here.