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As the title 'In and Out of Step' suggests, the plot is built around character relationships and the themes of:
� belonging and alienation
� loss and gain
� change

Central to the theme of BELONGING is the ripple effect of life events on relationships and in a community and the way those events and relationships shape people and their perceptions of belonging or not belonging.

The central plot revolves around Cassie Sleight's quest to belong against a backdrop of a world undergoing social change.

The story opens with Cassie arriving in the seemingly idyllic coastal NSW town of Keimera. She has discarded her dream of a career in dance and left home. Dance influences how she interprets the world and how she deals with its adversities.

Having left the familiar circle of family and friends in search of a seachange, Cassie starts her teaching career in the English faculty of Keimera High. Her workplace represents one of the last bastions of male supremacy and her male co-workers want to keep it that way. She boards at Madison House, historically significant and representing something of the former pastoral glory of the region.

In the high school setting, Cassie comes into contact with Mark Talbut, a man struggling to be modern yet threatened by power shifts in the workplace and society.

At Madison House, Cassie experiences new perspectives on relationships and is challenged to become the woman she was meant to be and not what circumstance made her.

While readers learn about Cassie's new world and the barriers to her fitting in and becoming accepted, the secrets of her past surface through a series of flashback scenes. Those scenes reveal why Cassie felt she no longer belonged in the world that she left behind in Sydney and why she chose to be in exile.

As the story unfolds, Cassie realises something potentially sinister is happening in her new community. What should she do about it? Is the so-called 'good guy' really a wolf or just a man out of step with the times? Is she out of step with the times? Those questions complicate her quest to belong.

Cassie's quest to belong occurs in the workplace, in her new social and personal arenas, and in the world she left behind.

In the novel, Cassie’s journey to belong contrasts with the journeys of Mavis Mills, Michael Madison, Mark Talbut, Kate Denford, Samantha Smith, and Rajes Chandran. The stories of secondary characters adds dimension to my exploration of the novel's themes. Absolutely every character experience serves a function in this tale about life and love. You may have to think about how and why.

'In and Out of Step' is also a snapshot of Australian life and some key issues in play at the time. It is based on extensive research and placed within a fictional context.

Life:
Strands of colour,
Separate yet interwoven.
Each hue
Influences the weaving,
Defines the other.
A complex tapestry:
Indiscernible when close;
Recognisable at a distance.