Click here to listen to 3.38mins >>> The Burial
This audio excerpt of the novel was read by me and recorded by Lilith Lane at the Bakehouse Studio. The birds you can hear at the start were recorded in the Widden Ranges where Jessie Hickman once roamed. I imagine she climbed over this honeycomb rock.
[...] Synopsis: It is the dawn of the twentieth century in Australia and a woman has done an unspeakable thing. Twenty-two-year-old Jessie has served a two-year sentence for horse rustling. As a condition of her release she is apprenticed to Fitzgerald ‘Fitz’ Henry, who wants a woman to allay his loneliness in a valley populated by embittered ex-soldiers. Fitz wastes no time in blackmailing Jessie and involving her in his business of horse rustling and cattle duffing. When Fitz is wounded in an accident he hires Aboriginal stockman, Jack Brown, to steal horses with Jessie. Soon both Jack Brown and Jessie are struggling against the oppressive and deadening grip of Fitz. One catastrophic night turns Jessie’s life on its head and she must flee for her life. From her lonely outpost, the mountains beckon as a place to escape. First she must bury the evidence. But how do you bury the evidence when the evidence is part of yourself? Listen to an excerpt [...]
Hi Courtney
I have just finished your beautifully written novel – I just loved it – couldn’t put it down. What a clever plot, and the words so deceptively simply written. I’m sure it was not as easy as you made it look. It was lent to me by my sister Julie Fibbins – you may remember me when you were a small girl. Congratulations on one of the best books I have read – I’m telling all my friends and am really looking forward to the next one.
Pam Bailey