Flames

This genre-busting debut novel by Tasmanian writer Robbie Arnott defies all attempts to describe or classify it. The writing is vibrant and beautiful. It’s a book that fills your lungs with a blast of fresh air, the scents of the cool southern rainforests and dazzles you with clouds and sun and rain and fire. It seamlessly blends realism with a spirit world, binding the human to the animal in an evocatively magical and disturbing story that brings Australian nature and animals into focus in an entirely new literary landscape. I defy anyone to read this book and not fall in… show more.

A riotous traipse across the island of Tasmania, Australia’s southernmost state, Flames follows a young woman whose brother is obsessed with ensuring that when she dies, she won’t return as a natural force the way her mother and grandmother did. Flames is narrated by creatures human and non, with the plot propelled along through stories told by a water rat and a fire, among others. Arnott’s intimate knowledge of the landscapes of his home island comes alive on the page – when you’ve finished Flames, try the brilliant nature parable of The Rain Heron, his latest book.