Reaching Tin River (1990) is a novel by Australian author Thea Astley.

[1] Thea Astley's main character, Belle, is a quick witted, strong willed, rebellious and ambitious young woman.

Belle tells an ironic story of her childhood and her obsession with a dead man.

While researching the archives of a middle-of-nowhere town called Jericho Flats, she path crosses that of the long-dead, Gaden Lockyer, with whom she becomes obsessed.

[2] Commenting on a scene in the book where Belle visits a country boarding house where Lockyer stayed, Astley stated: "About two or three years ago when I was passing an old seaside boarding house, the sort of place I've stayed at in country towns over and over again," she said, "and I thought I'd like to walk into that awful looking boarding house.