Flames

"A strange and joyous marvel" Richard Flanagan



For readers of Jennifer Egan, Evie Wyld, Sara Baume and David Szalay.

Robbie Arnott's mad, wild debut novel is rough-hewn from the Tasmanian landscape and imbued with the folkloric magic of the oldest fireside storytellers.



A young man named Levi McAllister decides to build a coffin for his twenty-three-year-old sister, Charlotte-who promptly runs for her life. A water rat swims upriver in quest of the cloud god. A fisherman named Karl hunts for tuna in partnership with a seal. And a father takes form from fire.



The answers to these riddles are to be found in this tale of grief and love and the bonds of family, tracing a journey across the southern island that takes us full circle.

Flames sings out with joy and sadness. Utterly original in conception, spellbinding in its descriptions of nature and its celebration of the power of language, it announces the arrival of a thrilling new voice in contemporary fiction.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE READINGS PRIZE FOR NEW AUSTRALIAN FICTION



Robbie Arnott was born in Launceston in 1989. His writing has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. He won the 2015 Tasmanian Young Writers' Fellowship and the 2014 Scribe Non-fiction Prize for Young Writers. He lives in Hobart.



Flames feels solid, significant and emotionally resonant.



A strange and joyous marvel.



Flames is a spectacular novel; exciting and spirited, overflowing with imagination. Arnott invites us in to a thrilling new world where everything may look familiar, but there are magical surprises to be discovered around every corner. Join him on the journey, and you will not be disappointed.



Visionary, vivid, full of audacious transformations: there's a marvellous energy to this writing that returns the world to us aflame. A brilliant and wholly original debut.



Ambitious storytelling from a stunning new Australian voice. Flames is constantly surprising-I never knew where the story would take me next. This book has a lovely sense of wonder for the world. It's brimming with heart and compassion.



Robbie Arnott is a vivid and bold new voice in Australian fiction



[With a] magic realist flair that will appeal to fans of Angela Carter... It is glorious, messy, and a bit weird.



Rich.



Probably the best book I've read all year.