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.
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.
Author bio:
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 first novel, The Mint Lawn (1991), won the 1990 The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award. Gillian's books include Ride a Cock Horse (1988), The Grass Sister (1995) and A Map of the Gardens (2002), which won the 2003 Steele Rudd Australian Short Story Award.
Her eagerly awaited third novel, Foal's Bread, was published by Allen & Unwin in 2011. It won The Prime Minister's Award for Fiction, The Age Book of the Year for Fiction and the ALS Gold Medal, all awarded in 2012. It was shortlisted for The Indie Awards (2012), the Barbara Jefferis Award (2012), the Miles Franklin Literary Award (2012) and the ABIA (Australian Book Industry Awards) Book of the Year (2012). Her children's story, The Cat With the Coloured Tail, was published by Walker Books Australia.
Gillian died at home in Grafton on 16 May 2016. She is sorely missed and remembered with loving gratitude.
Shortlisted, 2013 NSW Premier's Literary Awards - Christina Stead Prize
Shortlisted, Indie Awards 2012, Fiction category
WC Winner, 2012 ALS Gold Medal
Shortlisted, 2012 Barbara Jefferis Award
Shortlisted, 2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award
Shortlisted, 2012 Nita B. Kibble Award WC
Shortlisted, 2012 ABIA (Australian Book Industry Awards) Book of the Year 2012
Winner, 60th Annual Book Design Awards 2012, Best Designed Literary Fiction
Shortlisted, 2012 WA Premier's Book Award
Winner, 2012 The Age Book of the Year Award Fiction
Winner, 2012 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction
Winner, 2012 Colin Roderick Award
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