Limberlost Robbie Arnott
Atlantic Books £14.99
Ned West is a motherless boy, heavy with responsibility but dreaming of freedom and his own boat.
His older brothers are away fighting in the Second World War and he is left with his taciturn father at their parched orchard, full of sharp feelings he can’t express. In this corner of rural Tasmania, being a man involves struggle, disappointment and skinning rabbits with your bare hands – but there is beauty too, and tenderness, and a sense that love might survive even the harshest climate.