(Published by Aardvark, paperback, 22 February 2018)
1855. Failed entrepreneur Stanton Finch moves his family from Adelaide to the remote Coorong area of Southern Australia, in pursuit of his dream to become a farmer.
Housed in a driftwood cabin, they try to make the best of their situation. The children roam the beautiful landscape of Salt Creek; visitors are rare but warmly welcomed; a local Indigenous boy becomes almost part of the family. Yet there are daily hardships, and tensions with the Ngarrindjeri people they have displaced; disaster never seems far away.
With Mrs Finch struggling to cope, Hester, their perceptive eldest daughter, willingly takes on more responsibility. But as Hester’s sense of duty grows, so does a yearning to escape Salt Creek and make a new life of her own …
The multi-award-winning debut historical novel – Walter Scott and Miles Franklin-shortlisted
Reviews
THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
‘Salt Creek is a love song to a lost world… the precision of Treloar’s poetry stops the heart.’ The Guardian
‘…a raw and convincing addition to the canon. Treloar writes with beauty and a winning compassion.’ The Times, Book of the Month
‘…the story drives deep into the pioneering experience with the confidence of a writer perfectly at ease with her subject.’ Daily Mail
‘[An] impressive debut… a haunting story.’ The Sunday Times
‘Hester Finch is a wonderful character – the brave heart of this haunting, absorbing story’ Kirsty Wark
‘Written with a profound respect for history: with an understanding that beyond a certain point, the past and its people are unknowable.’ Sydney Morning Herald
