Today I am pleased to feature The Untold by Courtney Collins, now out in trade paperback, originally published in Australia as The Burial. Berkley Trade Paperback Reprint: June 2nd 2015
About the Book
A spirited and haunting debut novel born from Australia’s rugged landscape and savage past, introducing the estimable talents of Courtney Collins to American readers, Inspired by the life of Jessie Hickman, a legendary woman outlaw, yet wholly the work of a dazzling imagination, this intensely atmospheric and compulsively readable tale is at once exhilarating and heartbreaking. Published in Australia (and throughout Europe) asThe Burial, this stunning debut was nominated for the Australian Vogel Literary Award (shortlist), Scribe Fiction Literary Award (highly commended), Stella Prize (shortlist), Dobbie Award (shortlist), NSW Premier’s Literary Award (shortlist) and has been optioned for a feature film by Renegade Films/Pure Pictures with the support of Screen Australia.
It is 1921, and a woman has done an unspeakable thing... At age 26, Jessie has already lived life as a circus rider, horse and cattle rustler, and convict. Now, in a mountain-locked valley, amid squalls of driving rain, Jessie is on the run. Growing up in the Australian outback, Jessie developed a keen talent for handling and eventually stealing horses. Captured and jailed, she finds her only hope of freedom in indentured servitude. But from the start she loathes Fitz, the horse-trading brute who “hires” her, demeans her, and forces her to marry him. Her only source of liberation comes through violent and horrific acts—the deaths of Fitz and their newborn child. It is the voice of that baby, otherworldly and omniscient, that chronicles Jessie’s dark adventure.
Navigating treacherous terrain as she runs from the law, Jessie lives by her wits, accompanied only by her beloved horse, Houdini. Two men seek her—one her lover, the other the law—both uncertain if they should save her or themselves. Jessie’s lover is Fitz’s hired hand, Jack Brown, an Aboriginal/Irish stockman who, despite serving as an Australian soldier in the First World War, has neither the rights of a citizen nor the respect of his white countrymen. On the side of the law is Sergeant Andrew Barlow, all but banished to this remote outpost in order to battle a heroin addiction, who has his own motives for catching Jessie.
Encounters with an isolated old man and woman, and later with a band of lost-boy cattle rustlers, help Jessie survive, but also place her in danger of being caught. As the rousing adventure unfolds, each character will seek a form of justice from an unjust world, and search for freedom from the imperfections that imprint their souls and bind them to their destinies.
In the tradition of such writers as Carson McCullers, Zora Neale Hurston, and Cormac McCarthy, Courtney Collins gives voice to unforgettable characters shaped as much by what they don’t have as by what they do—renegades who obey their own laws but never waver from their own version of righteousness.
About the Author
Courtney Collins grew up in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. She completed her first novel, THE UNTOLD, in an old postmaster’s cottage on the Goulburn River in regional Victoria. She now lives in a sea-side town in NSW and is working on her second novel. Visit her website at courtneycollinswriter.com
Praise for The Untold
“This extraordinary novel—propelled by the dark, rich talents of a truly brilliant writer—dazzles, staggers, and amazes.”
—Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love
“A captivating, epic novel that never loses its heart to scope, The Untold is a surreal saga set in a rugged, unforgiving landscape. Courtney Collins paints a devastating portrait of long-shot love.”
“A captivating, epic novel that never loses its heart to scope, The Untold is a surreal saga set in a rugged, unforgiving landscape. Courtney Collins paints a devastating portrait of long-shot love.”
—Patrick deWitt, author of #1 international bestseller The Sisters Brothers (short-listed for The Man Booker Prize)
“[A] page turner…Jessie, the heroine of this tale set in 1920s Australia, sets her own compass…The chase will leave you breathless.”
“[A] page turner…Jessie, the heroine of this tale set in 1920s Australia, sets her own compass…The chase will leave you breathless.”
—Good Housekeeping
"Collins’s gripping debut novel is based on a legendary wild woman…A fast-paced, heart-wrenching story that never loses speed, this extraordinary first novel is not to be missed.”
"Collins’s gripping debut novel is based on a legendary wild woman…A fast-paced, heart-wrenching story that never loses speed, this extraordinary first novel is not to be missed.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“The dead have tales to tell, if only we could hear them…Collins richly evokes a heartbreaking emotional terrain, setting it against the sparse, brutal landscape of the Australian Outback.”
“The dead have tales to tell, if only we could hear them…Collins richly evokes a heartbreaking emotional terrain, setting it against the sparse, brutal landscape of the Australian Outback.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Collins’s poetic language and salty dialogue tell the story of a woman whose life is inextricable from the bleak landscape she not only traverses but also inhabits.”
“Collins’s poetic language and salty dialogue tell the story of a woman whose life is inextricable from the bleak landscape she not only traverses but also inhabits.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Exciting literary adventure.”
—Sacramento Bee
“THE UNTOLD is astonishing - an utter original. Courtney Collins writes with brutal honesty, grabbing you by the heart and never letting go. This is a shocking, haunting, funny and ultimately hopeful novel that's also a terrific read. ”
—Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author
Goodreads
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