Fiona McFarlane

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE'Brilliant, fresh and compulsively readable'ANN PATCHETT'A blazing mystery . . . tremendous'GUARDIAN'Masterful storytelling'WASHINGTON POST'Gloriously orchestrated . . . kaleidoscopic'IRISH TIMES'A thrilling success'WALL STREET JOURNALAn epic tale of unsettlement, history, myth, art and love - and of a small boy lost in the Australian desert from the prize-winning author of The Night Guest and The High Places.In September 1883, in a small town in the South Australian outback, six-year-old Denny Wallace goes missing.As a dust storm sweeps across the landscape, the entire community is caught up in the search. Scouring the desert and mountains, the residents of Fairly - newlyweds, farmers, mothers, artists, Indigenous trackers, cameleers, policemen - confront their relationships with each other and with the ancient land they inhabit. A land haunted by many gods - the sun among them, rising and falling on each day in which Denny could be found, or lost forever.PRAISE FOR FIONA MCFARLANE'I can't think of another writer working today who I admire more'KEVIN POWERS, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE YELLOW BIRDS'An extraordinary writer'MICHELLE DE KRETSER, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF SCARY MONSTERS'McFarlane has a gift for cutting into a story at precisely the right angle'THE TIMES'An intelligent and distinctive voice . . . a marvel'SYDNEY MORNING HERALD'An exceptionally fine writer'PUBLISHERS WEEKLY