Awards
- Short-listed for Miles Franklin Literary Award 2011
- Short-listed for Nielsen BookData Booksellers Choice Award 2011
- Shortlisted for Miles Franklin Literary Award 2011.
- Shortlisted for Nielsen BookData Booksellers Choice Award 2011.
- Winner of Australian Independent Booksellers Indie Awards: Fiction 2011
- Winner of Australian Independent Booksellers Indie Awards: Fiction 2011.
Overview
It is 1919. The Great War has ended, but the Spanish flu epidemic is raging across Australia. Schools are closed, state borders are guarded by armed men, and train travel is severely restricted. There are rumours it is the end of the world. In thetown of Flint, Quinn Walker returns to the home he fled ten years earlier when he was accused of an unspeakable crime. Aware that his father and uncle would surely hang him, Quinn hides in the hills surrounding Flint. There, he meets the orphan Sadie Fox - a mysterious young girl who seems to know more about the crime than she should. A searing gothic novel of love, longing and justice, Bereft is about the suffering endured by those who go to war and those who are forever left behind. 'Bereft is a dark, brooding story of war, family secrets and a man's search for justice. Chris Womersley knows how to shine light into the darkest corners of rural Australia.' - MICHAEL ROBOTHAM 'Bereft is a beautiful novel . . . Womersley writes with such compelling power it is barely possible to put the book down.' - DEBRA ADELAIDE
Full Product Details
Author: Chris Womersley
Publisher: Scribe Publications
Imprint: Scribe Publications
Edition: New edition
Dimensions:
Width: 12.90cm
, Height: 2.30cm
, Length: 19.60cm
Weight: 0.256kg
ISBN: 9781921844027
ISBN 10: 1921844027
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 10 March 2011
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
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Reviews
Kate writes: I had the very rare experience of wanting to reread this book almost immediately. Thoroughly enjoyable and compelling, the Western Plains town and its inhabitants come alive. The flashbacks to war and London are fresh and rich. This book is simple but effective, with a delightful layer of gothic magic realism, and has just won 2011 the 2011 Indie Book Award for Best Novel, as judged by Australian independent booksellers.
Author Information
Chris Womersley's debut novel, The Low Road, won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction. His second novel, Bereft, won the Australian Book Industry Award for Literary Fiction and the Indie Award for Fiction; was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, The Age Book of the Year, the Australian Society of Literature Gold Medal and the UK's Gold Dagger award; and was longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Bereft and The Low Road have been translated into a number of languages. Chris's short fiction has appeared in Granta, The Best Australian Stories 2006, 2010, 2011 and 2012, Griffith REVIEW, Wet Ink and Meanjin; and one of his stories was shortlisted for the BBC International Short Story Award in 2012. He lives in Melbourne with his wife and son.
