Cirrus@Austlit

'Until recently, I had not read Reaching Tin River, though I had admired several other novels by Thea Astley. If I had investigated its premise beforehand – a woman becomes obsessed with a long-dead man she glimpses in an archival photograph of early settlers – I am not certain I would have chosen to read it. Frankly, I’ve had my fill of novels about dead white men, of novels that romanticise our colonial past. And yet I should have known that I would be safe in Astley’s hands.' (Introduction)

'A walled matriarchal society forces self-reflection and radical growth in a speculative examination of power, sex and gender.'

'The drive south from Darwin is a long and lonely one, with few trees and fewer people – but when a mysterious figure appears by the road, a welcome companion soon becomes something much more sinister.'

'How do you talk to a brother you’ve never known? A father’s death brings loss and complex grief, but also a chance at forging a new bond across cultures and generations.' (Introduction)