Awards
- Commended for Fiction, Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2023 (Australia)
- Commended for Fiction, Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2023 (Australia)
- Long-listed for Dylan Thomas Prize 2023 (UK)
- Long-listed for Fiction, Booktopia Favourite Australian Book Award 2022 (Australia)
- Long-listed for Fiction, Indie Book Awards 2023 (Australia)
- Short-listed for Dylan Thomas Prize 2023 (UK)
- Short-listed for Fiction, Indie Book Awards 2023 (Australia)
Overview
In the heat of a long summer Ned hunts rabbits in a river valley, hoping the pelts will earn him enough money to buy a small boat. His two brothers are away at war, their whereabouts unknown. His father and older sister struggle to hold things together on the family orchard, Limberlost. Desperate to ignore it all—to avoid the future rushing towards him—Ned dreams of open water. As his story unfolds over the following decades, we see how Ned’s choices that summer come to shape the course of his life, the fate of his family and the future of the valley, with its seasons of death and rebirth. The third novel by the award-winning author of Flames and The Rain Heron, Limberlost is an extraordinary chronicle of life and land: of carnage and kindness, blood ties and love.
Reviews
'A strange and joyous marvel.' -- Richard Flanagan on Flames 'This is a startlingly good first novel, stylistically adventurous, gorgeous in its descriptions and with a compelling narrative that should find a wide readership.' -- Australian on Flames 'An engrossing narrative of mystery and escape that treats the reader to bravura runs of writing, especially around the elements of water and fire...You never quite know which direction the story will take off in as it creates a new kind of fairytale for our fire-prone landscape.' -- Judges' report on Flames, Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist 2019 'Visionary, vivid, full of audacious transformations: there's a marvellous energy to this writing that returns the world to us aflame. A brilliant and wholly original debut.' -- Gail Jones on Flames 'Delightful. He jumps playfully between different writing styles in every chapter...[An] enchanting story that also captures something very real about Tasmanian life.' -- Guardian on Flames 'A gloriously audacious book. It runs astonishing risks and takes on the biggest emotions...It bowled me sideways.' -- New Zealand Herald on Flames 'A rich and memorable picture with prose of an exceptionally high quality. You won't read another Australian literary novel like this anytime soon.' -- Kill Your Darlings on Flames '[A] novel you will want to read more than once, not so much to plumb its depths as to savour its wild variety of styles and voices, to revel in its breathtaking descriptions of Tasmanian wilderness and to grasp its intricate structure...There is no doubt that a poetically wild and wicked imagination is at work here. More please!' -- SA Weekend on Flames 'With its emotional power and rich symbolism, The Rain Heron is an immersion in landscape, climate and an animal world that lives despite us, not for us. Robbie Arnott has imagined a creature, by turns exquisitely beautiful and terrifying, the likes of which I have never seen in Australian literature. His titular heron is a source of breathless wonder, of reverence. Arnott is just as wise with his human characters, with their wretchedness and elation, love and mistrust. There are images in this book that are entirely new to me, and I will cherish them.' -- Jock Serong on The Rain Heron 'Robbie Arnott is singlehandedly reinventing Australian literature. The Rain Heron is a soaring feat of the imagination.' -- Bram Presser on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is exquisite. Reading it feels like hearing a legend from our past, from our near future; like remembering something you had always known but somehow forgotten. It is both fantastical and deeply true.' -- Jane Rawson on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is genuinely and completely magnificent-a magical thing.' -- Robert Lukins on The Rain Heron 'Robbie Arnott imagines a thoroughly strange, inky-dark land of the near future. Sharp and original, The Rain Heron is a beautiful novel about love, violence and redemption.' -- Laura Elvery on The Rain Heron 'In The Rain Heron, Robbie Arnott has turned his gaze to civilisation's need to control and understand the natural world. This is a book full of heart-it's so richly imagined, inventive and beautifully written, with a strong message, but is never didactic. It's like nothing I've read and Arnott has quickly become one of my favourite authors.' -- J. P. Pomare on The Rain Heron 'A book that is not only a compelling, original read, but one that delivers hard truths that urgently need to be heard.' -- Books+Publishing on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is unlike anything I have ever read. As luminescent as it is devastating, Arnott's tightly wrought storytelling reveals the myriad harms we wreak both on our planet and on each other. It is mesmerising.' -- Ruth Gilligan on The Rain Heron 'Arnott weaves a narrative that feels both timely and timelessly engaging. A powerful meditation on human greed and frailty, The Rain Heron also leaves room for redemption. This bracing follow-up to Flames will reinforce Arnott's reputation for unusual, risk-taking literary fiction.' -- Laura Elizabeth Woollett, Australian Book Review on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is literary art. Robbie Arnott has deftly crafted an audacious idea into an original, compelling work...Flames is shrouded in a gothic, macabre Tasmanian setting. I thought it brilliant. The Rain Heron is even better...Arnott blends his genres impeccably. Nothing is overdone or superfluous...When the northerner, the seeker of squid ink, views a painting of the ocean, he is entranced by the quality and depth of its brightness and texture. It is an artwork laced with ink , a perfect metaphor for this luminous tale.' -- Australian on The Rain Heron 'Unsettling...Arnott writes vibrantly about the harsh wonder of nature, his vivid characters becoming almost animal themselves.' -- Observer on The Rain Heron 'An intuitive understanding of fauna and flora and humankind's problematic, often violent relationship with nature...Written with economy and grace, The Rain Heron is a timeless and poignant meditation on our fragile relationship with the natural environment.' -- Guardian on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is an evocative and poetic ecological myth...Mesmerising and beautifully written...Each narrative thread could stand as a shocking, beautiful and moral short story in its own right, but Robbie Arnott weaves them seamlessly together into a satisfying whole.' -- Scotsman on The Rain Heron 'Arnott's eco-fable, set in a politically broken near future, explores the constant push-pull that exists between our capacity for enchantment and our need to exploit what we find...It's sad and satisfying.' -- The Times on The Rain Heron 'Full of enchanted realism...[Arnott] writes on behalf of the fierce dedication necessary for anyone to be her best self. This is a lofty ambition but it is what great stories demand from us: figurative blood, figurative tears, and a commitment to witness the world in all its wonder.' -- Age on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron confirms [Robbie Arnott's] place as one of Australia's leading young novelists...As myths collide with reality, Arnott's imaginative dark novel ends with a sobering uplift, reaffirming that ultimately relationships and kindness matter.' -- Canberra Times on The Rain Heron 'An absolutely stunning novel...A tale of myths and legends that also looks at climate change, corporation, power and how we fight for survival. I thought it was phenomenal. With Flames and now The Rain Heron, Robbie Arnott has become one of my absolute favourite authors.' -- Simon Savidge on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is fantastic. The ripping pace of a thriller combined with the emotional complexity of a Shakespearian tragedy, delivered in diamond-sharp prose. It pulls you into a world of myths come to life, where environmental destruction collides with sociopolitical decay, and you can't help but feel for all the characters as they navigate through the wreckage. Highly recommended.' -- Kawai Strong Washburn, author of Sharks in the Time of Saviors on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is a patient and rooted fable told as naturally as a tree grows. With timeless and captivating prose, Robbie Arnott has a talent for making it look easy. I was transfixed.' -- Catherine Lacey, author of The Answers and Pew, on The Rain Heron 'Vibrant and violent...Arnott fascinates with fable-like stories and thoughtful meditations...Beautiful imagery and magical moments.' -- Publishers Weekly on The Rain Heron 'Superb descriptions of nature and weather, of human emotion and animal instinct...evoke a landscape that is both startlingly immediate and mysteriously otherworldly: the perfect setting for a tense narrative of eco-disaster and fragile endurance. At once an urgent thriller and an elegiac fable, this mesmerizing tale is as lyrical as it is suspenseful.' -- Kirkus on The Rain Heron 'Amazing...One of the ones that is closest to perfect of all the Australian books I read this year...An extraordinary book.' -- Cassie McCullagh, RN Bookshelf on The Rain Heron 'Reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's visceral The Road, an air of savage solitude infuses Arnott's lyrically atmospheric postapocalyptic novel, where trauma and resilience are connected to memory and the loss of both self and surroundings.' -- Booklist on The Rain Heron 'A dazzlingly visual novel...This is the visuality of myth, in which images are important not for their beauty or grandeur but for their resonance, their power to encapsulate deep truths more fully and potently than any amount of exposition ever could...It's a powerful story, beautifully rendered...The Rain Heron is a new story about learning to heed the old stories.' -- Los Angeles Review of Books on The Rain Heron 'A beautifully poetic, hypnotic, barreling ride...As delightfully brutal as it is captivating...It is as pitch-perfect a second novel as could have been anticipated...Arnott displays stunning talent on every page...A stunning blend of mythologies, grim society, and fatefully interconnected lives.' -- The Millions on The Rain Heron
'Robbie Arnott is the sort of young writer we all hoped would emerge in Australia, a Conrad-like storyteller whose tales always tremble on the edge of the mythic and legendary. And as well as being a splendid narrator of tales, he has a quality too easily overlooked now. He writes beautifully! May his readers and his rewards abound!' * Thomas Keneally * 'Limberlost is as close to flawless as any book I have read in years. The poise and precision of Arnott's writing lends restraint to the fury at Limberlost's heart.' * Jessie Greengrass, author of The High House * 'Spectacular and stunning...Deeply moving.' * Nick Bradley, author of The Cat and the City * 'A strange and joyous marvel.' * Richard Flanagan on Flames * 'Unsettling...Arnott writes vibrantly about the harsh wonder of nature, his vivid characters becoming almost animal themselves.' * Observer on The Rain Heron * 'Ned-with his shame and pride-blazes his way into your heart. A tender, soaring novel from one of Australia's finest writers.' * Sisonke Msimang * 'An exquisitely moving and intimate story that is more rooted in realism than Arnott's previous works, but still carries the wonder and subtle magic his writing is known for...Arnott masterfully explores masculinity, brotherhood and familial love...Limberlost is another astonishing book from one of Australia's most electrifying young authors.' * Books+Publishing *
'Robbie Arnott is the sort of young writer we all hoped would emerge in Australia, a Conrad-like storyteller whose tales always tremble on the edge of the mythic and legendary. And as well as being a splendid narrator of tales, he has a quality too easily overlooked now. He writes beautifully! May his readers and his rewards abound!' * Thomas Keneally * 'A strange and joyous marvel.' * Richard Flanagan on Flames * 'Delightful. He jumps playfully between different writing styles in every chapter...[An] enchanting story that also captures something very real about Tasmanian life.' * Guardian on Flames * 'Unsettling...Arnott writes vibrantly about the harsh wonder of nature, his vivid characters becoming almost animal themselves.' * Observer on The Rain Heron * 'Arnott's eco-fable, set in a politically broken near future, explores the constant push-pull that exists between our capacity for enchantment and our need to exploit what we find...It's sad and satisfying.' * The Times on The Rain Heron *
‘Robbie Arnott is the sort of young writer we all hoped would emerge in Australia, a Conrad-like storyteller whose tales always tremble on the edge of the mythic and legendary. And as well as being a splendid narrator of tales, he has a quality too easily overlooked now. He writes beautifully! May his readers and his rewards abound!’ * Thomas Keneally * ‘Limberlost is as close to flawless as any book I have read in years. The poise and precision of Arnott’s writing lends restraint to the fury at Limberlost’s heart.’ * Jessie Greengrass, author of The High House * ‘Spectacular and stunning…Deeply moving.’ * Nick Bradley, author of The Cat and the City * ‘Ned—with his shame and pride—blazes his way into your heart. A tender, soaring novel from one of Australia’s finest writers.’ * Sisonke Msimang * ‘An exquisitely moving and intimate story that is more rooted in realism than Arnott’s previous works, but still carries the wonder and subtle magic his writing is known for…Arnott masterfully explores masculinity, brotherhood and familial love…Limberlost is another astonishing book from one of Australia’s most electrifying young authors.’ * Books+Publishing * ‘An unforgettable story, humble, transporting, and filled with grace and bravery. It’s one of the strongest things I’ve read for a very long time.’ * Cynan Jones, author of The Dig and Cove * ‘Robbie Arnott’s best so far…Perfectly balanced, just exquisite.’ * Rachel Edwards * ‘This book is something special: tender, sad, exceptionally well written [and] unexpectedly moving.’ * Ashleigh Wilson * ‘Robbie Arnott is a tremendously talented and unique voice in Australian literature, and his third novel, Limberlost, exceeded all my expectations. It is a gorgeously written coming-of-age novel…a touching and profound depiction of connection, grief and familial love…Limberlost is much more grounded in realism than Arnott’s previous novels…but still holds the same sense of wonder.’ * Readings * ‘Limberlost is an immersive experience, a story that is deeply embedded in the language of its environment, drawing much of its power from the places that surround and inform its characters…Though scaled right down to a single, humble life, Limberlost is lit up by the energy of that life’s relationships. It serves as a reminder of the complicated position humans occupy, tangled as we are in the webs of interdependence, of pain and responsibility and care, that bind us to a world much greater than ourselves.’ * Australian Book Review * ‘In Limberlost magic lies in lyrical language and the powerfully real characters brought to life through it…This is a novel about the deepest of emotions, about love, the fear of loss, and about joy.’ * Age * ‘It’s immersive, it’s emotional…A beautiful book…Glorious.’ * ABC Radio Hobart * ‘Arnott’s style has tempered into something rich and singing…[His] writing of the natural world is elegiac and elemental…[Limberlost has] a breathtakingly moving final scene.’ * Guardian * ‘Quiet wisdom [conveyed in a] potent and exquisitely crafted depiction of the delicate relationship between people and place.’ * Matilda Bookshop * ‘The ambition of Limberlost and the complex questioning that underpins it are fascinating and lend the book a hauntedness that is deeply affecting. Ned’s sensitivity, his striving and his jumbled, tightly held emotions are always handled with great subtlety, and Arnott’s deep compassion for his characters and willingness to leave space for all that is unanswerable make Limberlost a striking book, with lingering resonance and great heart.’ * Saturday Paper * ‘[Limberlost] is a beautifully-written and moving novel, and certainly one of the best books I’ve read all year…A coming-of-age story which lasts a lifetime.’ * David Griggs, Through the Biblioscope * ‘Limberlost is a tender study of the dangers of averting our gaze…[with] vivid writing of the more-than-human world.’ * Sydney Review of Books * ‘[Arnott’s novels] are just so good…There is so much tenderness and beauty and love [in Limberlost]…A gorgeous read…Arnott is a beautiful writer…I shed a little tear at the end.’ * ABC RN Breakfast * ‘Outstanding…The writing in this book is so beautiful…so evocative.’ * ABC RN Book Show * ‘[Limberlost] is thoughtful, insightful realism in exquisite prose…[it] is a beautiful textured novel.’ * ANZ LitLovers * ‘Arnott is one of the most exciting authors in Australia…He completes his literary hat-trick with Limberlost, a stunning novel…This is a book about violence and fear, but there’s a great tenderness, too…Not a word is wasted. Limberlost is powerful, lyrical and packs a hell of an emotional punch. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year.’ * ABC Arts * ‘Creatures loom wondrously in this lyrical novel…The animal kingdom around Ned bursts with language…Powerful…As the novel progresses Arnott ventures into more wistful territory…[He expertly] captures Ned’s autumn of life.’ * Sunday Times (UK) * ‘Arnott’s writing has understated elegance and lilts to poetic rhythms. Its beauty hides an emotional punch made more powerful by its slow reveal…The writing is magnificent, and the characterisation of Ned is superb. A must-read novel.’ * Good Reading * ‘Extraordinarily imaginative…His writing is so exquisite…Full of striking images.’ * ABC TV Weekend Breakfast * ‘The magic is definitely present in [Limberlost] in the power of [Robbie Arnott’s] writing…Australian fiction at its best.’ * Coast Magazine * ‘[Arnott’s] ability to write sublimely about nature has never been in doubt. But what characterises Limberlost as a triumph is how the author manages to illustrate the simple poignancy of human drama.’ * Meanjin * ‘Limberlost is frequently exquisite…Its writing is alert to the language and imagery of mythology, and attuned to the living world…Arnott writes beautiful sentences.’ * Conversation * ‘The descriptions of the natural world are wonderfully vivid.’ * Daily Mail (UK) * ‘A luminously told, whole-life story of a young boy discovering how to be his own man…Arnott has an eye and an ear for description that can elevate otherwise quiet moments to something genuinely transcendent.’ * Guardian (UK) * ‘Tender and often exquisitely moving…An intimate portrait…Limberlost doesn’t claim to answer all of the complex questions it raises…However, in its haunted quality and understated sense of wonder, it does succeed in capturing some of the complexity of our relationships with the natural world.’ * West Australian * ‘Arnott’s third novel carries echoes of Ernest Hemingway’s masterpiece…It could be read as a sort of The Young Man and the Sea: a beautiful, pared-back exploration of masculinity, and the sustaining nature of dreams…Limberlost is a sensory rollercoaster. Arnott’s writing is unadorned, but thrillingly visceral…The joy of Limberlost, beyond the writing, is that, in Arnott’s rendering, nature is not always something to be wondered at, then subdued. The book is flecked with violence and rot, but there is much tenderness, too.’ * Big Issue (UK) * ‘Masterful storytelling.’ * BookPeople * ‘Unutterably beautiful.’ * Gleebooks * ‘There is mastery in the way [Robbie Arnott] captures the beauty and ferocity of the natural environment…Limberlost tracks the texture of memory and time…The essence of longing saturates the narrative, for a time lost and a future yet to be inhabited.’ * ArtsHub * ‘Finely told…[Reminds] us that the quintessence of our country…should remain indelible in our collective memory and perhaps be elevated into the realm of the heroic.’ * Australian * ‘Filled with wonder and reverence…Arnott has traded in the magical realism of his previous work for a deep sense of the personal, and the result is equally transcendent and immersive.’ * Big Issue * ‘Highly recommended…[Robbie Arnott is] at the peak of his game.’ * Herald Sun * ‘Robbie Arnott is establishing himself as one of Australia's best novelists…Beautifully written…For all those people who are waiting for the next Tim Winton novel.’ * Fairfield Books * ‘Robbie Arnott cements his reputation as one of Australia’s most affecting storytellers…Arnott uses the colours and creatures of the natural world to populate Ned’s world.’ * Australian * ‘Sentences sublime.’ * Pip Williams * ‘A gem.’ * Michael Winkler * ‘I’ve read Robbie Arnott’s Limberlost twice already. Calling it (hopefully not cursing it) for next year’s Miles Franklin shortlist.’ * Jennifer Down * ‘[Limberlost] further underlines [Arnott’s] mastery of nature writing.’ * Jock Serong * ‘Singing prose…This coming-of-age story confirms Robbie Arnott as a masterly writer of eco-fiction.’ * The Times (UK) * ‘One of the great reading experiences of the year…Just perfect.’ * ABC Radio Melbourne * ‘A pitch-perfect story steeped in beautiful writing about the natural world.’ * Age * ‘The end of the story fashions an extraordinary emotional catharsis in the lead character, bringing a closure that I’ve not seen executed well elsewhere in literature. This novel will win a swag of awards in 2023, mark my words.’ * Triple R * ‘Never have I read the natural world, or masculinity, written like it…Robbie Arnott has fundamentally (and with such terrible, aching tenderness) nailed it.’ * Helen Jukes, author of A Honeybee Heart has Five Openings * ‘Absolutely exquisite on every level.’ * Karen Ginnane * ‘Absolutely exquisite on every level.’ * Karen Ginnane * ‘Poignant…Arnott’s beautifully descriptive language shows his love of the Tasmanian landscape, as he allows Ned to find deep solace in the nature that surrounds him.’ * Openbook * ‘Sturdy writing about humble, decent people. [Limberlost] is the work of an author sufficiently confident in his powers that he tailors his style to the story. In so doing [Robbie Arnott] has produced a gem sure to give readers joy for years to come.’ * 2023 Age Book of the Year for Fiction judges comments *
'This is a startlingly good first novel, stylistically adventurous, gorgeous in its descriptions and with a compelling narrative that should find a wide readership.' -- Australian on Flames 'An engrossing narrative of mystery and escape that treats the reader to bravura runs of writing, especially around the elements of water and fire...You never quite know which direction the story will take off in as it creates a new kind of fairytale for our fire-prone landscape.' -- Judges' report on Flames, Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist 2019 'Visionary, vivid, full of audacious transformations: there's a marvellous energy to this writing that returns the world to us aflame. A brilliant and wholly original debut.' -- Gail Jones on Flames 'Delightful. He jumps playfully between different writing styles in every chapter...[An] enchanting story that also captures something very real about Tasmanian life.' -- Guardian on Flames 'A gloriously audacious book. It runs astonishing risks and takes on the biggest emotions...It bowled me sideways.' -- New Zealand Herald on Flames 'A rich and memorable picture with prose of an exceptionally high quality. You won't read another Australian literary novel like this anytime soon.' -- Kill Your Darlings on Flames '[A] novel you will want to read more than once, not so much to plumb its depths as to savour its wild variety of styles and voices, to revel in its breathtaking descriptions of Tasmanian wilderness and to grasp its intricate structure...There is no doubt that a poetically wild and wicked imagination is at work here. More please!' -- SA Weekend on Flames 'With its emotional power and rich symbolism, The Rain Heron is an immersion in landscape, climate and an animal world that lives despite us, not for us. Robbie Arnott has imagined a creature, by turns exquisitely beautiful and terrifying, the likes of which I have never seen in Australian literature. His titular heron is a source of breathless wonder, of reverence. Arnott is just as wise with his human characters, with their wretchedness and elation, love and mistrust. There are images in this book that are entirely new to me, and I will cherish them.' -- Jock Serong on The Rain Heron 'Robbie Arnott is singlehandedly reinventing Australian literature. The Rain Heron is a soaring feat of the imagination.' -- Bram Presser on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is exquisite. Reading it feels like hearing a legend from our past, from our near future; like remembering something you had always known but somehow forgotten. It is both fantastical and deeply true.' -- Jane Rawson on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is genuinely and completely magnificent-a magical thing.' -- Robert Lukins on The Rain Heron 'Robbie Arnott imagines a thoroughly strange, inky-dark land of the near future. Sharp and original, The Rain Heron is a beautiful novel about love, violence and redemption.' -- Laura Elvery on The Rain Heron 'In The Rain Heron, Robbie Arnott has turned his gaze to civilisation's need to control and understand the natural world. This is a book full of heart-it's so richly imagined, inventive and beautifully written, with a strong message, but is never didactic. It's like nothing I've read and Arnott has quickly become one of my favourite authors.' -- J. P. Pomare on The Rain Heron 'A book that is not only a compelling, original read, but one that delivers hard truths that urgently need to be heard.' -- Books+Publishing on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is unlike anything I have ever read. As luminescent as it is devastating, Arnott's tightly wrought storytelling reveals the myriad harms we wreak both on our planet and on each other. It is mesmerising.' -- Ruth Gilligan on The Rain Heron 'Arnott weaves a narrative that feels both timely and timelessly engaging. A powerful meditation on human greed and frailty, The Rain Heron also leaves room for redemption. This bracing follow-up to Flames will reinforce Arnott's reputation for unusual, risk-taking literary fiction.' -- Laura Elizabeth Woollett, Australian Book Review on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is literary art. Robbie Arnott has deftly crafted an audacious idea into an original, compelling work...Flames is shrouded in a gothic, macabre Tasmanian setting. I thought it brilliant. The Rain Heron is even better...Arnott blends his genres impeccably. Nothing is overdone or superfluous...When the northerner, the seeker of squid ink, views a painting of the ocean, he is entranced by the quality and depth of its brightness and texture. It is an artwork laced with ink , a perfect metaphor for this luminous tale.' -- Australian on The Rain Heron 'Unsettling...Arnott writes vibrantly about the harsh wonder of nature, his vivid characters becoming almost animal themselves.' -- Observer on The Rain Heron 'An intuitive understanding of fauna and flora and humankind's problematic, often violent relationship with nature...Written with economy and grace, The Rain Heron is a timeless and poignant meditation on our fragile relationship with the natural environment.' -- Guardian on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is an evocative and poetic ecological myth...Mesmerising and beautifully written...Each narrative thread could stand as a shocking, beautiful and moral short story in its own right, but Robbie Arnott weaves them seamlessly together into a satisfying whole.' -- Scotsman on The Rain Heron 'Arnott's eco-fable, set in a politically broken near future, explores the constant push-pull that exists between our capacity for enchantment and our need to exploit what we find...It's sad and satisfying.' -- The Times on The Rain Heron 'Full of enchanted realism...[Arnott] writes on behalf of the fierce dedication necessary for anyone to be her best self. This is a lofty ambition but it is what great stories demand from us: figurative blood, figurative tears, and a commitment to witness the world in all its wonder.' -- Age on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron confirms [Robbie Arnott's] place as one of Australia's leading young novelists...As myths collide with reality, Arnott's imaginative dark novel ends with a sobering uplift, reaffirming that ultimately relationships and kindness matter.' -- Canberra Times on The Rain Heron 'An absolutely stunning novel...A tale of myths and legends that also looks at climate change, corporation, power and how we fight for survival. I thought it was phenomenal. With Flames and now The Rain Heron, Robbie Arnott has become one of my absolute favourite authors.' -- Simon Savidge on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is fantastic. The ripping pace of a thriller combined with the emotional complexity of a Shakespearian tragedy, delivered in diamond-sharp prose. It pulls you into a world of myths come to life, where environmental destruction collides with sociopolitical decay, and you can't help but feel for all the characters as they navigate through the wreckage. Highly recommended.' -- Kawai Strong Washburn, author of Sharks in the Time of Saviors on The Rain Heron 'The Rain Heron is a patient and rooted fable told as naturally as a tree grows. With timeless and captivating prose, Robbie Arnott has a talent for making it look easy. I was transfixed.' -- Catherine Lacey, author of The Answers and Pew, on The Rain Heron 'Vibrant and violent...Arnott fascinates with fable-like stories and thoughtful meditations...Beautiful imagery and magical moments.' -- Publishers Weekly on The Rain Heron 'Superb descriptions of nature and weather, of human emotion and animal instinct...evoke a landscape that is both startlingly immediate and mysteriously otherworldly: the perfect setting for a tense narrative of eco-disaster and fragile endurance. At once an urgent thriller and an elegiac fable, this mesmerizing tale is as lyrical as it is suspenseful.' -- Kirkus on The Rain Heron 'Amazing...One of the ones that is closest to perfect of all the Australian books I read this year...An extraordinary book.' -- Cassie McCullagh, RN Bookshelf on The Rain Heron 'Reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's visceral The Road, an air of savage solitude infuses Arnott's lyrically atmospheric postapocalyptic novel, where trauma and resilience are connected to memory and the loss of both self and surroundings.' -- Booklist on The Rain Heron 'A dazzlingly visual novel...This is the visuality of myth, in which images are important not for their beauty or grandeur but for their resonance, their power to encapsulate deep truths more fully and potently than any amount of exposition ever could...It's a powerful story, beautifully rendered...The Rain Heron is a new story about learning to heed the old stories.' -- Los Angeles Review of Books on The Rain Heron 'A beautifully poetic, hypnotic, barreling ride...As delightfully brutal as it is captivating...It is as pitch-perfect a second novel as could have been anticipated...Arnott displays stunning talent on every page...A stunning blend of mythologies, grim society, and fatefully interconnected lives.' -- The Millions on The Rain Heron
Author Information
Robbie Arnott’s acclaimed debut, Flames (2018), won a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist award and a Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Prize, and was shortlisted for a Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, a New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award, a Queensland Literary Award, the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction and the Not the Booker Prize. His follow-up, The Rain Heron (2020), won the Age Book of the Year award, and was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the ALS Gold Medal, the Voss Literary Prize and an Adelaide Festival Award. He lives in Hobart.
