SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE

'Brilliant, fresh and compulsively readable' ANN PATCHETT

'A blazing mystery . . . tremendous' GUARDIAN

'Masterful storytelling' WASHINGTON POST

'Gloriously orchestrated . . . kaleidoscopic' IRISH TIMES

'A thrilling success' WALL STREET JOURNAL

An epic tale of unsettlement, history, myth, art and love - and of a small boy lost in the Australian desert from the prize-winning author of The Night Guest and The High Places.

In September 1883, in a small town in the South Australian outback, six-year-old Denny Wallace goes missing.

As a dust storm sweeps across the landscape, the entire community is caught up in the search. Scouring the desert and mountains, the residents of Fairly - newlyweds, farmers, mothers, artists, Indigenous trackers, cameleers, policemen - confront their relationships with each other and with the ancient land they inhabit. A land haunted by many gods - the sun among them, rising and falling on each day in which Denny could be found, or lost forever.

PRAISE FOR FIONA MCFARLANE

'I can't think of another writer working today who I admire more' KEVIN POWERS, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE YELLOW BIRDS

'An extraordinary writer' MICHELLE DE KRETSER, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF SCARY MONSTERS

'McFarlane has a gift for cutting into a story at precisely the right angle' THE TIMES

'An intelligent and distinctive voice . . . a marvel' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

'An exceptionally fine writer' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY