Exiles

The “week-to-week office diary” (106), or planner, that Gemma gives Falk symbolizes their relationship as well as Falk’s lack of work-life balance. When Gemma and Falk meet, he is working on a task force for the federal police and has little personal life. She gives him the diary to help him organize his time. However, she does not put her number in because his schedule would not allow their relationship to develop the way she wants. After Falk comes to Marralee a second time, Gemma gives in, and they begin seeing one another. When he finally moves in with her and takes a job at Charlie’s vineyard, the diary represents the balance between his work and personal life. At the end of the novel, he mentions wanting to visit his hometown and says, “We’ll put something in the diary” (351). This statement expresses how he is able to make time for family and friends in his new profession as the diary takes on new meanings of a work-life balance.

Another symbol of Falk’s work-life imbalance is his cell phone. It appears in the Melbourne scenes, distracting him during his first meeting with Gemma. Falk’s phone also appears in Marralee. When he goes to the festival for the second time, he “suddenly, maddeningly, pictured his phone.