The Life Between reflects an observation of Tim Winton's that West Australians feel caught between sea and desert. The first of the collection's three sections, 'Looking out to Sea', speaks of how coastline has shaped the poet's consciousness, whether in the communities that spring up suddenly or reflective moments of looking across the waves. 'The Lives we Know' tells a story of growing up in the surrounds of Perth in the middle of the twentieth century, and conveys the variety and richness of human relationships, from love poems to parenting narratives. The final section, 'On the Land', speaks of the poet's life as a small farmer, his sense of the passage of the seasons, the trials and joys of rural living and the beauty of its landscapes. We hear the voice of lament and also the coming to terms with the experience of not being 'big' and not 'getting out'.