Cirrus@Austlit

'In a snowbound village in the heart of the Swiss Alps, a husband and wife find their lives breaking apart in the days and months following the death of their firstborn. On the far side of the world, in their hometown of Sydney, a man on the margins of Australian society commits an act of shocking violence that galvanises international attention. As the husband recognises signs of his own grief in both the survivors and the perpetrator, his fixation on the details of the case feeds into insomnia, trauma, and an obsession with the terms on which we give value to human lives.

'At the Edge of the Solid World is a compulsive, compelling and lyrical novel, told with extraordinary empathy and emotional intelligence. It is the story of a child’s life cut short after just one day. Of a mother and father bereft at the loss of the future they’d imagined. Of an unspeakable crime, public outrage, anguish on the streets and a media frenzy that engineers heroes and villains, martyrs and scapegoats. Most of all, it is a profound meditation on the nature of loss, the resilience and fragility of the family unit and the stories we tell to explain the world.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'With the death of her mother, eleven-year-old Abigail must learn to fend for herself against the cruel stewardship of her father. At war with the local

Aboriginals and intent on staking his claim on the land at any cost, what occurs between the two is a stunning powerplay that exposes the limits of the human imagination.

'Inhabiting the speculative peripheries of the historical record, Blood and Bone is an uncompromising exploration of Australia’s dark history and its legacy.' (Publication summary)