LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
As beautiful and unique as his previous novel Flames, Robbie Arnott’s Limberlost casts a haunting spell as it tells the coming-of-age tale of a Tasmanian teenager through to marriage, fatherhood, and old age. Bathed in the raw natural beauty of its setting, this tender tale of loss, love, longing and cycles of life seeps from the page into your soul.
From the opening pages, Arnott’s unique way with words (sensual, elemental, perfectly balanced) compels readers to slow down and reflect, with its protagonist being a quiet, laconic type. We first meet Ned as a boy who longs to own his own river boat. A boat that will give him some freedom from Limberlost, his family’s orchard farm. A farm that‘s haunted by the loss of Ned’s mother, and by the absence of his brothers, who are fighting in Singapore.
After trapping rabbits and selling their pelts, Ned realises his dream and buys a boat. When he strips away the old paint, he’s struck by the beauty of the wood: “In it, Ned saw gold, saw nature, saw heaven.” It made “a huge, red-sparking emotion flow through him.” This sensation exquisitely captures Ned’s character, and the author’s ability to conjure the burning essence of emotions.
As time passes and his brothers don’t return, Ned’s sister Maggie does come home, and his childhood friends remain constant, too – Jackbird, and his tough, smart sister Callie, who Ned marries and has children with. But turmoil comes in the wake of a brutal storm, forcing Ned to make a brutal decision.
Joanne Owen
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Limberlost Synopsis
Ned West dreams of sailing across the river on a boat of his very own. To Ned, a boat means freedom the fresh open water, squid-rich reefs, fires on private beaches - a far cry from life on Limberlost, the family farm, where his father worries and grieves for Ned's older brothers.
They're away fighting in a ruthless and distant war, becoming men on the battlefield, while Ned, too young to enlist roams the land in search of rabbits to shoot, selling their pelts to fund his secret boat ambitions.
But as the seasons pass and Ned grows up, real life gets in the way. Ned falls for Callie, the tough, capable sister of his best friend, and together they learn the lessons of love, loss, and hardship.
When a storm decimates the Limberlost crop and shakes the orchard's future, Ned must decide what to protect: his childhood dreams, or the people and the land that surround him.
At turns tender and vicious, Limberlost is a tale of the masculinities we inherit, the limits of ownership and understanding, and the teeming, vibrant wonders of growing up. Told in spellbinding, folkloric spirit, this is an unforgettable love letter to the richness of the natural world from a writer of rare talent.
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Press Reviews
Robbie Arnott Press Reviews
'Limberlost is as close to flawless as any book I have read in years. The poise and precision of Arnott's writing lends restraint to the fury at Limberlost's heart' Jessie Greengrass, author of THE HIGH HOUSE
'Spectacular and stunning. In a novel steeped in the natural landscapes of Tasmania, Arnott captures a very relatable youthful male anxiety that exists between fathers and sons. Very subtle and deeply moving' Nick Bradley, author of THE CAT AND THE CITY
'It is an unforgettable story, humble, transporting, and filled with grace and bravery. It's one of the strongest things I've read for a very long time' Cynan Jones, author of COVE and THE DIG
'Robbie Arnott is the sort of young writer we all hoped would emerge in Australia, a Conrad-like storyteller whose tales always tremble on the edge of the mythic and legendary. And as well as being a splendid narrator of tales, he has a quality too easily overlooked now. He writes beautifully!' Thomas Keneally, author of THE DICKENS BOY
'An immersive experience, a story that is deeply embedded in the language of its environment. Scaled right down to a single, humble life, Limberlost is lit up by the energy of that life's relationships. It serves as a reminder of the complicated position humans occupy, tangled as we are in the webs of interdependence, of pain and responsibility and care, that bind us to a world much greater than ourselves' Australian Book Review
'In Limberlost magic lies in lyrical language and the powerfully real characters brought to life through it...This is a novel about the deepest of emotions, about love, the fear of loss, and about joy' Age
'Robbie Arnott is a tremendously talented and unique voice in Australian literature, and his third novel, Limberlost, exceeded all my expectations. It is a gorgeously written coming-of-age novel. A touching and profound depiction of connection, grief and familial love' Readings Monthly
'This book is something special: tender, sad, exceptionally well-written [and] unexpectedly moving' Ashleigh Wilson
'Sad and satisfying' The Times on The Rain Heron
'Timeless and poignant' Guardian on The Rain Heron
'Ned-with his shame and pride-blazes his way into your heart. A tender, soaring novel from one of Australia's finest writers' Sisonke Msimang, author of The Resurrection of Winnie Mandela
'Shocking... Beautiful... Satisfying' Scotsman on The Rain Heron
Author
About Robbie Arnott
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.
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