The Sun Walks Down

***Out now: Fiona McFarlane's latest book HIGHWAY THIRTEEN***

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE

'Brilliant, fresh and compulsively readable'
ANN PATCHETT

'A blazing mystery . . . tremendous'
GUARDIAN

'Masterful storytelling'
WASHINGTON POST

'Gloriously orchestrated . . . kaleidoscopic'
IRISH TIMES

'A thrilling success'
WALL STREET JOURNAL

An epic tale of unsettlement, history, myth, art and love - and of a small boy lost in the Australian desert from the prize-winning author of The Night Guest and The High Places.

In September 1883, in a small town in the South Australian outback, six-year-old Denny Wallace goes missing.

As a dust storm sweeps across the landscape, the entire community is caught up in the search. Scouring the desert and mountains, the residents of Fairly - newlyweds, farmers, mothers, artists, Indigenous trackers, cameleers, policemen - confront their relationships with each other and with the ancient land they inhabit. A land haunted by many gods - the sun among them, rising and falling on each day in which Denny could be found, or lost forever.

PRAISE FOR FIONA MCFARLANE

'I can't think of another writer working today who I admire more'
KEVIN POWERS, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE YELLOW BIRDS

'An extraordinary writer'
MICHELLE DE KRETSER, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF SCARY MONSTERS

'McFarlane has a gift for cutting into a story at precisely the right angle'
THE TIMES

'An intelligent and distinctive voice . . . a marvel'
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

'An exceptionally fine writer'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY


Genre: Literary Fiction

"Quite simply, the best novel I've ever read about 19th-century Australia. A tense search for a lost child unfolds with rising dread against a landscape of harsh and radiant beauty, amid lives as tangled as barbed wire." - Geraldine Brooks

"Gorgeous storytelling and superb characters are among the glories of The Sun Walks Down. Fiona McFarlane is an extraordinary writer, one of the best working today. Her magnificent reworking of the lost child story showcases the profound understanding she brings to people, places and the past. I lived in this wise, majestic novel for days and never wanted it to end." - Michelle de Kretser

"The Sun Walks Down is a brilliant, intimate epic, a book about a family and also about history that is full of heart and heat. Fiona McFarlane's ear for the gurgles and clamor and hidden symphonies of her characters' souls is flawless; the way their lives intertwine is propulsive, heartbreaking. She is, simply, one of the best writers around." - Elizabeth McCracken

"The Sun Walks Down is the book I'm always longing to find: brilliant, fresh and compulsively readable. It is marvellous. I loved it from start to finish." - Ann Patchett

"An exceptional, multi-layered historical novel with a beautifully styled plot. The power with which Fiona McFarlane evokes the place and time is extraordinary - a gorgeously written book." - Evie Wyld