Overview

A novel about death that's full of life Something strange is happening in Australia. People who should be dying, aren't - even a tourist dismembered by dingoes. The non-deaths create havoc across the country, but sixteen-year-old Nick Hartford just feels relief. His terminally ill grandfather can now live forever. But Nick soon realizes eternal life can bring eternal suffering. Determined to help his beloved grandfather, Nick investigates a phenomenon that traps people between life and death, leaving them unable to communicate with the living or join the dead. What he discovers is linked to the last person to die: a reclusive neighbor who may be Death himself. As his grandfather's condition worsens, Nick and three classmates race to unravel the mystery. Their urgency grows when he learns one of those friends could be next to enter the chasm between living and dying. Darkly funny and deftly paced, Unsilent Heart is a coming-of-age novel about what death adds to life, the demands of loyalty, and how to find love when time is short.

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9781764528108

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Reviews

Conrad Walters' gripping speculative story is full of sharp humor, zany imagination and offbeat characters, while its engaging young narrator, Nick, is determined to break rules and question authority. But Unsilent Heart also offers immense warmth and tenderness in its exploration of family life and in its themes of love and loyalty as Nick tries to understand some inscrutable mysteries about dying and living. Courageous, kind and funny, Nick is ultimately content not to have all his questions answered, as he guides us to an unexpected conclusion that is beautiful, moving, unsentimental, and totally apt. There's a great treat in store for younger readers - for any readers - with Unsilent Heart. Debra Adelaide, international bestselling author of The Household Guide to Dying

Author Information

Conrad Walters has lived in ten American states and seven countries. He was constantly uprooted from city to city and country to country, then dropped into what seemed like new worlds. Which may explain why he describes his love of speculative fiction as ""an imposed lifestyle"". Since then, he has been an award-winning journalist in America and Australia for more than thirty years, mostly at ""The Sydney Morning Herald"" and ""The Australian"" newspapers. He has a master's degree in Creative Writing from the University of Technology, Sydney. He is co-author of ""Journeys on the Silk Road."" Published in Australia by Picador and in America by Lyons Press, it tells the story of the world's oldest printed book - a Buddhist text that was lost for a thousand years on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Conrad also teaches memoir writing at a local men's shed in Sydney.""Unsilent Heart"" is his debut novel.

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