Hope Farm
2017 Longlist

Hope Farm

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ABOUT
THE BOOK

‘They were inescapable, the tensions of the adult world – the fraught and febrile aura that surrounded Ishtar and those in her orbit, that whined and creaked like a wire pulled too tight.’

It is the winter of 1985. Hope Farm sticks out of the ragged landscape like a decaying tooth, its weatherboard walls sagging into the undergrowth. Silver’s mother, Ishtar, has fallen for the charismatic Miller, and the three of them have moved to the rural hippie commune to make a new start.

At Hope, Silver finds unexpected friendship and, at last, a place to call home. But it is also here that, at just thirteen, she is thrust into an unrelenting adult world – and the walls begin to come tumbling down, with deadly consequences.

Hope Farm is the second novel from award-winning author Peggy Frew, and is a devastatingly beautiful story about the broken bonds of childhood, and the enduring cost of holding back the truth.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Peggy
Frew

Peggy Frew’s debut novel, House of Sticks, won the 2010 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript. Her story ‘Home Visit’ won The Age short story competition. She has been published in New Australian Stories 2, Kill Your Darlings, The Big Issue, and Meanjin. Peggy is also a member of the critically acclaimed and award-winning Melbourne band Art of Fighting.

Peggy Frew’s debut novel, House of Sticks, won the 2010 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript. Her story ‘Home Visit’ won The Age short story competition. She has been published in New Australian Stories 2, Kill Your Darlings, The Big Issue, and Meanjin. Peggy is also a member of the critically acclaimed and award-winning Melbourne band Art of Fighting.

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NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

Hope Farm was selected by Victoria public librarian vote from a list of nominations compiled by the State Library of Victoria.

Hope Farm is a complex novel which tells the story of a mother and her child, yet ultimately looks at the choices we make, the reasons we make them and the consequences of our decisions. The result is a moving story, which is firmly placed in its historical and social context. The author is compassionate to her flawed characters and the reader is left with a sense of sadness but hope. In this carefully constructed novel Peggy Frew demonstrates her skill as a fine storyteller, crafting a captivating and suspenseful story which resonates long after the final page is turned.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Date published
23/09/2015
Author
Publisher
Scribe Publications

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