A Far-flung Life

We all fell in love with M.L. Stedman’s writing when we read her novel The Light Between Oceans. We loved the epic nature of her storytelling; the way she could make voices be heard within a changing and isolated landscape. We rejoiced in a love story that broke our hearts and confused our moral ground. We can celebrate again now because Stedman’s latest novel gifts us another story of a family that is broken, yet, somehow, steadfast and compassionate.

This Western Australian story centres on the MacBride family, the owners of Meredith Downs, an enormous sheep station that covers a million acres. We meet the MacBride males first, on a deserted road after a terrible accident; the consequences of this tragedy become the story. The surviving sons of the accident must go on, but how do they manage legacies that are not their own? How do you honour a father’s hope? What choices can they make about their own life without affecting anyone else’s? Where can true love fit in? These questions are raised in this grand story that sweeps across the deserts, and which reverberates with family obligations and national identity. The characters will become like family as the novel works its magic on you and personal resolves are set.

Readers who want a quintessentially Australian novel filled with Australians’ humour and tenacity – here it is. Readers who are after a love story or a story of good people winning – here it is. Readers wanting to escape an urban setting can do so here. Interestingly, the author wrote this novel from London, although she did grow up in WA. While I was reading it, I could imagine the sunsets, and the hope of this farming family. A Far-Flung Life is a visceral read of dust and longing, of change and commitment and of a family that continues to work together despite grief and ambition.