Southern Aurora

Publisher details

Author
Mark Brandi
Publisher
Hachette
Genre
Fiction
Released
28 July, 2023
ISBN
9780733649325

Southern Aurora

Buy now

Retail partners

Synopsis

The unforgettable new novel from the Dagger award-winning author of Wimmera, Mark Brandi. A novel that shows small-town life is unforgiving if you're from the other side of the tracks.

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.

Reviews

Your Preview Verdict: Southern Aurora by Mark Brandi

Review | Preview

24 July 2023

Your Preview Verdict: Southern Aurora by Mark Brandi

    Small-Town Life is Unforgiving: Read an Extract from Southern Aurora by Mark Brandi

    Review | Extract

    4 July 2023

    Small-Town Life is Unforgiving: Read an Extract from Southern Aurora by Mark Brandi

      Unforgettable and Unsurpassable: Read Our Review of Southern Aurora by Mark Brandi

      Review | Our Review

      4 July 2023

      Unforgettable and Unsurpassable: Read Our Review of Southern Aurora by Mark Brandi

        Better Reading Preview: Southern Aurora by Mark Brandi

        Review | Preview

        29 May 2023

        Better Reading Preview: Southern Aurora by Mark Brandi

          Mark Brandi
          About the author

          Mark Brandi

          Mark Brandi's bestselling novel, Wimmera, won the coveted British Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger, and was named Best Debut at the 2018 Australian Indie Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards Literary Fiction Book of the Year, and the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year. His second novel, The Rip, was published to critical acclaim by Hachette Australia in March 2019.Mark's shorter work has appeared in The GuardianThe Age, the Big Issue, and in journals both here and overseas. His writing is also sometimes heard on ABC Radio National.Mark graduated with a criminal justice degree and worked extensively in the justice system, before changing direction and deciding to write. Originally from Italy, he grew up in rural Victoria. Mark now lives in Melbourne and is working on his next work of fiction.

          Books by Mark Brandi

          Related articles

          Podcast: Mark Brandi on Small-Town Life, Poverty and Class

          Podcast

          31 July 2023

          Podcast: Mark Brandi on Small-Town Life, Poverty and Class

            COMMENTS

            Leave a Reply

            Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *