Bøker av Mark Brandi

We always listen out for the train when we're down in the cutting because sometimes they come quicker than you expect. There aren't as many trains as there used to be. Mostly just the freight ones, like the one that nearly killed us on the bus . . . The best train is the Southern Aurora. It goes all the way from Melbourne to Sydney, and from Sydney to Melbourne. It stops in Mittigunda because we're pretty much exactly halfway between.'Jimmy is a kid growing up fast on the poorest street in town. He tries to do everything right and look out for his mum and his younger brother. His older brother is in jail, so it's up to Jimmy to hold things together. But small-town life is unforgiving if you're from the other side of the tracks.If only his mum didn't drink so much.If only he could win the school billycart race.If only his best friend understood.If only he could stop his mum's boyfriend from getting angry.If only he was there.Jimmy soon learns that even when you get things right, everything can still go wrong.'If you only read one Australian fiction book this year, let it be this one' Samuel Johnson'Evocative and authentic, Brandi has created a world filled with equal parts hope and dread. Southern Aurora is a special book' Sarah Bailey'Another quietly riveting, emotionally potent novel from Mark Brandi' The Age'The master of small-town dread' Canberra Times 'Heart-wrenching' The Australian Women's Weekly 'Another page-turner' Who Weekly 'Mark Brandi has delivered a protagonist that could well become one of Australia's classic characters. There's a Mark Twain innocence and inner wisdom to Jimmy, one far beyond most adults' Weekend Australian 'Brandi's poignant and deceptively uncomplicated tale pulses with foreboding - but also hope' Courier Mail 'Unforgettable and unsurpassable . . . Brandi's observations are breathtakingly original and his insights are astute. Southern Aurora tackles issues with a purity that's as rare as it is precious' Better Reading 'A beautiful and deeply affecting book . . . Mark Brandi proves himself a master raconteur, in a work characterised by gentle humour, perceptiveness and kindness' Living Arts Canberra

From the bestselling author of WIMMERA and THE RIP comes an unforgettable novel that explores the darkness in our world with the light only a child can find.

''A cracking read.'' Val McDermid''One of the yearΓÇÖs best urban crime stories. Topical, gripping and perfectly paced, you wonΓÇÖt be able to put it down.'' Better Reading''The Rip pulls you under and tosses your emotions around like flotsam bobbing up and down on the waves.'' Queenland Reviewers CollectiveA young woman living on the street has to keep her wits about her. Or her friends... but when the drugs kick in that can be hard.Anton has been looking out for her. She was safe with him. But then Steve came along.He had something over Anton. Must have. But he had a flat they could crash in. And gear in his pocket. And she can''t stop thinking about it. A good hit makes everything all right.But the flat smells weird.There''s a lock on Steve''s bedroom door.And the guy is intense.The problem is, sometimes you just don''t know you are in too deep, until you are drowning.Praise for Mark Brandi:Winner of the CWA Debut DaggerWinner of the 2018 Indie Debut Fiction Award''A bold new voice in fiction'' Louise Jensen''Devastating, breathtaking, and effortless'' Sarah Schmidt''An unforgettable story'' Sarah Bailey

Fab looks back on a past in which he and his friend Ben attempted a kind of pre-teen normalcy despite Fab's abusive father and Ben's neighbour's abrupt death, and the new character - striking with evident strength - who came into this dynamic and cast a shadow on the lives to come. Winner of the CWA 2018 Debut Dagger.