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.
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