Publisher Description

Tom and Jordy have been living with their gran since the day their mother, Loretta, left them on her doorstep and disappeared. Now Loretta's returned, and she wants her boys back. Tom and Jordy hit the road with Loretta in her beat-up car. The family of three journeys across the country, squabbling, bonding, searching and reconnecting. But Loretta isn't mother material. She's broke, unreliable, lost. And there's something else that's not quite right with this reunion. They reach the west coast and take refuge in a beachside caravan park. Their neighbour, a surly old man, warns the kids to stay away. But when Loretta disappears again the boys have no choice but to ask the old man for help, and now they face new threats and new fears. This beautifully written and gripping debut is as moving as it is frightening, and as heartbreaking as it is tender.

Author Biography

Authors Bio, not available

Prizes

Winner of Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) Best Young Australian Novelists Award 2013 (Australia)
Short-listed for Miles Franklin Literary Award 2013 (Australia)
Short-listed for Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2013 (Australia)
Short-listed for Commonwealth Book Prize 2013
Short-listed for Australian Book Industry Awards, Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2013 (Australia)
Short-listed for Australian Book Industry Awards, Newcomer of the Year 2013 (Australia)
Short-listed for Dobbie Literary Award 2013 (Australia)
Long-listed for The Stella Prize 2013 (Australia)

Competing Titles

Breath Tim Winton 9780143009580 Picador In the Winter Dark Tim Winton That Eye, The Sky Tim Winton 9780743234429 Scribner What the Birds See Sonya Hartnett 9780763636807 Candlewick Ten Mile River Paul Griffin 9780142419830 Speak Past the Shallows Favel Parrett 9781848547506 John Murray

Excerpt from Book

Come on. We'll dive under the next one, alright, she says to me. When she grabs my hand hers is wet. She pulls me in. It's deeper for me. A wave comes, and she jumps over it. The next one, she says laughing. The next one comes. No, the next one. This one for sure, okay? Ready? She holds my hand tight and we dive under together. In the cold I can still feel the warmth of her hand in mine. I keep my eyes closed tight. There is a safe place where the wave isn't even touching us. It's silent and the moment seems to last forever.

Description for Sales People

Shortlisted for the Australian/Vogel Literary Award, the Miles Franklin Award and the Stella Prize. Romy Ash was the recipient of the 2011 Griffith REVIEW Emerging Writer's Prize. Written in the tradition of Tim Winton (The Riders) and Cate Kennedy (Dark Roots).

Details