Description

THE BOOK: The Shiralee is an Australian classic, originally published 60 years ago by Angus & Robertson and reissued in the UK in November 2014 by independent publisher Fox, Finch & Tepper.

Set on the back roads of New South Wales, The Shiralee focuses on the growing father-daughter relationship between tough man Macauley – an itinerant worker used to a solitary life on the road – and the vulnerable, but tenacious four-year-old Buster. Macauley sees Buster as a burden on his unshackled life – “a shiralee” – but her buoyant spirit and unwavering trust in him threaten to soften his hard edges for the very first time.

Emotionally charged, funny, and punctuated by scenes of incredible tension, The Shiralee is a novel of life and companionship on the road and of the power of the ties that bind.

“The Shiralee still rings true with its insight into the way a child can, by the provocation of her own vulnerability and by sheer force of love, bring a grown man to his senses” – Tim Winton

THE AUTHOR: D’Arcy Niland was born in Glen Innes, New South Wales in 1917. As a young man Niland roamed in search of work, taking many different jobs before settling on writing full-time at the age of 25, completing six novels before his death in 1967. The Shiralee was his first novel and is still published by Penguin Classics in Australia.

THE PUBLISHER: Fox, Finch & Tepper is an independent publishing outfit formed by the team at award-winning independent bookshop Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights. We specialise in resurrecting under-celebrated, beautifully written books with a strong sense of place. They are books that we have read and adored (and sold with great success in their previous incarnations) and that we feel deserve to grace the shelves of Britain’s bookshops and be loved by many more readers.