Past the Shallows

Trade Paperback

Paperback

Harry and Miles live with their father, an abalone fisherman, on the south-east coast of Tasmania. With their mum dead, they are left to look after themselves. When Miles isn't helping out on the boat they explore the coast, and Miles and his older brother, Joe, love to surf. Harry is afraid of the water.

Everyday their dad battles the unpredictable ocean to make a living. He is a hard man, a bitter drinker who harbours a devastating secret that is destroying him. Unlike Joe, Harry and Miles are too young to leave home and so are forced to live under the dark cloud of their father's mood, trying to stay as invisible as possible whenever he is home. Harry, the youngest, is the most vulnerable and it seems he bears the brunt of his father's anger.

'I loved Past the Shallows' Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds

'This is an extraordinary debut novel, part psychological family drama, part mystery, part painful rite of passage, engulfed in the wild isolation and natural richness of the Tasmanian coast. Favel's intimate understanding of this rugged heel of the world seeps through every pore of this book.' The Australian Woman's Weekly

'This book is that rare thing, a finely crafted literary novel that is genuinely moving and full of heart.' The Age

'Parrett's starkly precise evocation of Tasmania's winter landscape [is] compelling. The book's tragic outcome leaves the reader feeling genuinely bereft' The Guardian, UK

'Beautiful, stripped-back prose there is magic here. Like Cormac McCarthy, Parrett packs a huge emotional punch thanks to the elegant brevity of her style. Stark, but unforgettable' Marie Claire magazine, UK