‘Second Secretary’ is about ambiguity and uncertainty and how and why we curate our memories. Propped up in a bed in an end-of-life care facility in a suburb of Australia’s capital city, Clive Livesey taps away at his laptop’s keyboard. He is writing about his experiences as a diplomat in Tanzania in the early 1980s. The unvarnished narrative is part memoir and part travel guide and at its heart is Livesey’s romantic involvement with Hermione Somercotes, who works in the commercial section of the British High Commission. Various confusing incidents suggest that there might be more to his lover than meets the eye but in Livesey’s hazy account, which is marred by failing recall and the side-effects of medication, some possible explanations are never accepted.
