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The story of a young man on a thrilling journey of self-discovery in one of the most harshest, near-uninhabitable climates on Earth.
Tim Winton is Australia's most decorated and beloved novelist. Short-listed twice for the Booker Prize and the winner of a record four Miles Franklin Literary Awards for Best Australian Novel, he has a gift for language virtually unrivaled among writers in English. His work is both tough and tender, primordial and new - always revealing the raw, instinctual drives that lure us together and rend us apart.
In The Shepherd's Hut, Winton crafts the story of Jaxie Clackton, a brutalized rural youth who flees from the scene of his father's violent death and strikes out for the vast wilds of Western Australia. All he carries with him is a rifle and a waterjug. All he wants is peace and freedom. But surviving in the harsh saltlands alone is a savage business. And once he discovers he's not alone out there, all Jaxie's plans go awry. He meets a fellow exile, the ruined priest Fintan MacGillis, a man he's never certain he can trust, but on whom his life will soon depend. The Shepherd's Hut is a thrilling tale of unlikely friendship and yearning, at once brutal and lyrical, from one of our finest storytellers.
"Starred Review. Winton's novel is alive with pain and suffering, but it is also full of moments of grace and small acts of kindness. Gorgeously written and taut with eloquent, edgy suspense, Jaxie's journey is a portrait of young manhood amidst extreme conditions, both inward and outward." - Publisher's Weekly
"Winton thrusts the reader into the barren and unforgiving salt land in western Australia ... An absolute thrill to read." - Booklist
"Starred Review. Winton's story is worthy of a Peckinpah film—and splendidly written, if disturbing to the core." - Kirkus
"Set in a harsh landscape that mirrors the novel's emotional terrain, this...is a compelling tale of physical and psychological survival as Jaxie learns how the most elemental aspects of his character provide the impetus to strive for the human tenderness and warmth he yearned for in his previous life." - Library Journal
This information about The Shepherd's Hut was first featured
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Photo: Denise Fitch
The preeminent Australian novelist of his generation, Tim Winton is the author of the bestselling novels Cloudstreet, The Riders, and Dirt Music, among many other books. He has won the Miles Franklin Literary Award four times (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music, and Breath) and has twice been short-listed for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music). He lives in Western Australia.
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