Set in three distinct parts, An Open Swimmer is a 'coming of age' novel; it details the late-teen life of a young man named Jerra Nilsam.

As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that the old man had murdered his wife in a similar shack on a nearby beach by burning it down with her inside.

In the final paragraph, Jerra returns to his Kombi, opens the fuel tank and drops a match into it before running.

Ralph Elliott, in The Canberra Times, was in no doubt about the talent on display in this novel: "An Open Swimmer is certainly an impressive novel to come from one who has just finished a course in Creative Writing, a seed-bed not always regarded as producing the best literary fruit.

"[1] It was first published by Allen and Unwin in 1982,[2] and was subsequently a paperback in Pan,[3] a Picador edition in 1987[4] a large print book in 1991[5] a McPhee Gribble edition in 1993[6] an Australian Penguin in 1998[7] and a Bolinda audio book in 2007[8] 1981 Australian Vogel National Literary Award[9]