Book Giveaway: Foal’s Bread, by Gillian Mears

Those lovely people at Allen and Unwin have outdone themselves with generosity: they are providing six copies of Gillian Mears new book Foal’s Bread for Give Away on the ANZ LitLovers blog.  So be in it to win it, Australian and New Zealand readers please indicate your interest below in the Comments box and I’ll select winners using a random generator.  I’ll conduct six draws, the first one for subscribers to the blog, and then the next two for people who’ve previously taken the time and trouble to comment on this blog because I want to show my appreciation for your encouragement.   After that, all entries will be eligible.

Here’s the blurb, from the Allen and Unwin website:

The long-awaited new novel from the award-winning author of The Grass Sister tells the story of two generations of the Nancarrow family and the high-jumping horse circuit prior to the Second World War. A love story of impossible beauty and sadness, it is also a chronicle of dreams ‘turned inside out’, and miracles that never last, framed against a world both tender and unspeakably hard.

Description

The sound of horses’ hooves turns hollow on the farms west of Wirri. If a man can still ride, if he hasn’t totally lost the use of his legs, if he hasn’t died to the part of his heart that understands such things, then he should go for a gallop. At the very least he should stand at the road by the river imagining that he’s pushing a horse up the steep hill that leads to the house on the farm once known as One Tree.

Set in hardscrabble farming country and around the country show high-jumping circuit that prevailed in rural New South Wales prior to the Second World War, Foal’s Bread tells the story of two generations of the Nancarrow family and their fortunes as dictated by the vicissitudes of the land.

It is a love story of impossible beauty and sadness, a chronicle of dreams ‘turned inside out’, and miracles that never last, framed against a world both tender and unspeakably hard. Written in luminous prose and with an aching affinity for the landscape the book describes, Foal’s Bread is the work of a born writer at the height of her considerable powers. It is a stunning work of remarkable originality and power, one that confirms Gillian Mears’ reputation as one of our most exciting and acclaimed writers.

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Gillian Mears grew up in the northern New South Wales town of Grafton. Acclaim came early, with her short-story collections and novels winning major prizes. Her books include Ride a Cock Horse (1988), Fineflour (1990), winner of a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book, The Mint Lawn (1991) winner of the Australian/Vogel Literary Award, and The Grass Sister (1995), winner of the regional Commonwealth Prize for Best Book. A Map of the Gardens (2002) won the 2003 Steele Rudd Australian Short Story Award.

I read The Mint Lawn and The Grass Sister long, long ago.  I still have The Mint Lawn on my shelves, but I don’t know what I’ve done with The Grass Sister, alas.

Click here to pre-order Foal’s Breadfrom Fishpond, or from Allen and Unwin online available from November 1st.