Description

‘This strange story of love and loneliness, which explores how we all long to belong, is simply wonderful.’ Daily Mail

When, in 1859, George Hills is pulled from the wreck of the steamship Admella, he carries with him the uneasy memory of a fellow survivor. Someone else – or something else – kept him warm as he lay dying, half-submerged in the freezing Southern Ocean, kept him bound to life.

As George adapts to his life back on land, he can’t quite escape the feeling that he wasn’t alone when he emerged from the ocean that day, that a familiar presence has been watching him ever since. What the creature might want from him – his life? His first-born? Simply to return to its home? – will pursue him, and call him back to the water, where it all began.

‘[A] singular novel . . . [From the Wreck] movingly explores themes of loss, loneliness and guilt.’ Guardian

‘An absorbing, disturbing read, full of deep currents and lurking fears.’ Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of The Children of Time

Publisher Review

Something approaching an old-fashioned historical yarn spliced with Cronenbergian body horror . . . The commonplace rubbing shoulders with the supernatural adds to the book's considerations of mourning and absence a vivid hue . . . a genuine tension and sense of dread. * Sydney Morning Herald * Intensely researched historical fiction . . . [From the Wreck] also has a cephalopod shapeshifting alien, so. SO, it's remarkable . . . It's dark and beautiful, and puzzling. -- Maria Dahvana Headley, author of The Mere Wife Haunting and marvellous . . . From the Wreck takes real historical events and bends them to its own ends in a manner I've not seen before, an imaginative leap that truly exemplifies the nature of radical speculation. -- Nina Allan, author of The Rift In this masterful novel, Jane Rawson combines the grim beauty of a dark fable with the gripping plot and breathtaking pace of a literary thriller. This captivating, otherworldly story will enchant you from start to finish. -- Jennie Melamed, author of Gather the Daughters It's hard to find the right words to praise this novel. I think we need a whole new critical vocabulary to be invented. Rawson recreates a vanished historical world with utterly convincing characters as well as inhabits the mind of a cephalopod alien and make us feel, in both cases, yes, that's exactly how it is. Jane Rawson's writing is mysterious, chilling and tender. The book is a sort of miracle. -- Lian Hearn Rawson . . . has the rare talent of stretching our capacity to believe, while at the same time making us feel genuinely for the characters. There's a beautiful quality of empathy here, light and aching . . . I was reminded of the gentle quality of Steven Spielberg's ET . . . An intriguing tale whose humanity lingers warm long after the reading. * The Australian * From the Wreck is an utterly unique, fascinating story, richly and compellingly written. An impressive, absorbing reading experience that evokes empathy for Jane Rawson's unforgettable characters. -- Kate Mayfield, author of The Undertaker's Daughter An absorbing, disturbing read, full of deep currents and lurking fears. -- Adrian Tchaikovsky Arthur C Clarke Award-winning author of The Children of Time This strange story of love and loneliness, which explores how we all long to belong, is simply wonderful . . . Jane Rawson's writing is uncannily good - an original blend of speculative fiction, chilling horror and emotional empathy, fluidly carrying the reader along on a remarkable journey. * Daily Mail * The power of this singular novel lies in Rawson's ability to meld seemingly disparate narrative elements into a convincing whole that movingly explores themes of loss, loneliness and guilt. * Guardian *