'Since a deadly virus and the violence that followed wiped out his parents and most of his community, Finn has lived alone on the rugged coast with only his loyal dog Rowdy for company. He has stayed alive for two winters—hunting and fishing and trading food, and keeping out of sight of the Wilders, an armed and dangerous gang that controls the north, led by a ruthless man named Ramage. But Finn’s isolation is shattered when a girl runs onto the beach. Rose is a Siley—an asylum seeker—and she has escaped from Ramage, who had enslaved her and her younger sister, Kas. Rose is desperate, sick, and needs Finn’s help. Kas is still missing somewhere out in the bush. And Ramage wants the girls back—at any cost' (publication blurb).
In his interview with Reading Time, Smith recalls the origins of the story:
The Road To Winter began as a short story called Breathing In And Out. I thought it had the potential to be developed into a full length novel. My initial intention wasn’t to write a YA novel, but once I found the voice of Finn, my 16-year-old narrator, it moved more and more in that direction.
'We asked Mark Smith to give us some background to his debut novel, The Road to Winter which has just been released by Text Publishing. This novel looks like being very popular, not only among young adult audiences. ...'