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Amy’s Marriage to Keith

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

This flow traces Amy Mulvaney’s marriage to Keith Mulvaney from a pregnancy and an abortion to confinement, betrayal, and Keith’s lie about Dorrigo’s fate.

increasingupBearing stren­gth in each eventdowndecreasing
A Pregnancy Changes the TermsA Pregnancy Changes the Terms from "The Narrow Road to the Deep North". A Marriage Begins An Unsettled Relationship Amy Mulvaney becomes pregnant by Keith Mulvaney before they marry.
A Marriage Begins An Unsettled Relationship Amy Mulvaney becomes pregnant by Keith Mulvaney before they marry. Keith does not initially want marriage, while Amy wants to protect the child. A Decision Made for Her Keith arranges for Amy to see a doctor in Melbourne, and the pregnancy ends. The experience leaves guilt and resentment at the centre of the relationship they later formalize.
Kindness and ConfinementKindness and Confinement from "The Narrow Road to the Deep North". Security Without Fulfilment Keith’s Care Keith Mulvaney marries Amy and provides a stable home and livelihood.
Security Without Fulfilment Keith’s Care Keith Mulvaney marries Amy and provides a stable home and livelihood. He is often gentle and attentive, but their ordinary life does not satisfy her desire for uncertainty and intensity. Contradictory Feeling Amy cares about Keith while feeling lonely beside him. His kindness can feel like another form of confinement because it does not answer what she cannot name.
A Hidden AttachmentA Hidden Attachment from "The Narrow Road to the Deep North". The Secret Affair A Different Life Amy Mulvaney begins an affair with Dorrigo Evans, finding in their meetings a sense of freedom and intensity absent from her…
The Secret Affair A Different Life Amy Mulvaney begins an affair with Dorrigo Evans, finding in their meetings a sense of freedom and intensity absent from her marriage. She continues to tell herself that she cares for Keith. Growing Risk The secrecy becomes harder to sustain as Amy’s feelings deepen. She wants both the world she knows and a life with Dorrigo, though neither possibility is simple.
Keith’s False NewsKeith’s False News from "The Narrow Road to the Deep North". A Lie Offered as Consolation News from the Front Keith Mulvaney tells Amy that Dorrigo Evans is confirmed dead, relying on an uncertain report and presenting…
A Lie Offered as Consolation News from the Front Keith Mulvaney tells Amy that Dorrigo Evans is confirmed dead, relying on an uncertain report and presenting it as fact. A Marriage Reframed Amy collapses under the news. Keith tells himself that his lie may allow them to live together, but his attempt to preserve their marriage deepens the breach between them.
The Marriage Ends in FireThe Marriage Ends in Fire from "The Narrow Road to the Deep North". The Hotel Destroyed A Catastrophe An explosion and fire destroy the King of Cornwall Hotel, killing Keith Mulvaney and leaving Amy among the presumed dead.
The Hotel Destroyed A Catastrophe An explosion and fire destroy the King of Cornwall Hotel, killing Keith Mulvaney and leaving Amy among the presumed dead. Dorrigo receives the report while imprisoned and believes he has lost her. Two Separate Griefs Amy survives, but Dorrigo and Amy each build their future around a mistaken belief about the other. The catastrophe makes their separation last far beyond the affair itself.
Before Amy’s marriage, during her early years at the hotel
After the abortion, in the first years of Amy’s marriage
During the summer before Dorrigo’s deployment
During the heatwave after Dorrigo has been missing for months
During the King of Cornwall Hotel explosion and fire