A Small Town with Big Dreams: Read our Review of Welcome to Nowhere River by Meg Bignell

A Small Town with Big Dreams: Read our Review of Welcome to Nowhere River by Meg Bignell

Welcome to Nowhere River, the small town with big dreams.

Long past its heyday and deep in drought, the riverside hamlet of Nowhere River is slowly fading into a ghost town. It’s a place populated by those who are beholden to it, those who were born to it and those who took a wrong turn while trying to go somewhere else.

City-born Carra married into Nowhere River, Lucie was brought to it by tragedy, Josie is root-bound and Florence knows nowhere else. All of them, though familiar with every inch of their tiny hometown, are as lost as the place itself.

The town’s social cornerstone – St Margery’s Ladies’ Club – launches a rescue plan that turns everything around and upside down, then shakes it until all sorts of things come floating to the surface. And none of its inhabitants will ever be the same again.

This is the highly original and heartfelt story of a place where everybody knows everything, but no one really knows anyone at all. Brimming with heart and humour, Welcome to Nowhere River is a delightful novel that celebrates the country people and towns of Australia.

Meg Bignell charmed Better Reading readers in 2019 with her debut novel, The Sparkle Pages, a highly entertaining comic novel about one woman’s mission to reignite the passion in her marriage – and rediscover herself. Now, Bignell returns with her second novel, Welcome to Nowhere River, and I have to say, I really enjoyed this one.

Set in the aptly named town of Nowhere River, Welcome to Nowhere River is a captivating and tender-hearted story of a country town and its rhythms. The novel is brimming with wonderful and richly imagined characters, from city-born Carra who, after marrying Nowhere River’s favourite son, Dr Duncan Finlay, is struggling with unrealised dreams and her new role as a mother to two demanding ten-month old twins. Then there’s Carra’s mother-in-law Lucie, an active and beloved member of the local community, who is still grieving the unexpected disappearance of her daughter thirty years later. Both Carra, Lucie and the other inhabitants of Nowhere River are warm, familiar, and all-too-relatable, and it was an absolute pleasure to follow each of their stories.

Full of wit and wisdom, Welcome to Nowhere River is an uplifting page-turner, and the perfect weekend read. So why not pour yourself a cup of tea, put your feet up and visit the quirky town of Nowhere River. We promise you’ll love it there.

Reviews

Your Preview Verdict: Welcome to Nowhere River by Meg Bignell

Review | Preview

16 March 2021

Your Preview Verdict: Welcome to Nowhere River by Meg Bignell

    Brimming with Heart and Humour: Read an Extract from Welcome to Nowhere River

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    2 March 2021

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                  Publisher details

                  Welcome To Nowhere River
                  Author
                  Meg Bignell
                  Publisher
                  Penguin
                  Genre
                  Fiction
                  Released
                  02 March, 2021
                  ISBN
                  9780143790464

                  Synopsis

                  The highly original and heartfelt new novel from the author of The Sparkle Pages. Long past its heyday and deep in drought, the riverside hamlet of Nowhere River is slowly fading into a ghost town. It’s a place populated by those who are beholden to it, those who were born to it and those who took a wrong turn while trying to go somewhere else. City-born Carra married into Nowhere River, Lucie was brought to it by tragedy, Josie is root-bound and Florence knows nowhere else. All of them, though familiar with every inch of their tiny hometown, are as lost as the place itself. The town’s social cornerstone — St Margery’s Ladies’ Club — launches a rescue plan that turns everything around and upside down, then shakes it until all sorts of things come floating to the surface. And none of its inhabitants will ever be the same again. This is the highly original and heartfelt story of a place where everybody knows everything, but no one really knows anyone at all. Brimming with heart and humour, this is a delightful novel that celebrates the country people and towns of Australia.
                  Meg Bignell
                  About the author

                  Meg Bignell

                  Meg Bignell was a nurse and a weather presenter on the telly before she surrendered to a persistent desire to write. Since then she has been writing almost every day – bits and pieces here and there, either to earn a crust, to get something off her chest or to entertain herself. She has written three short films, mostly because she wanted to do some acting and no one else would cast her. She sings a bit too, occasionally writes and performs cabaret, but is mostly very busy being a mother to three and a wife (to one). She lives with her family on a dairy farm on Tasmania’s East Coast. She is the author of The Sparkle Pages.

                  Books by Meg Bignell

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