Libby Pardoe

This book was very personal for me, as we too lived on a small property in Western Australia we called ‘Limberlost’ after my favourite book as a teenager - ‘The Girl of the Limberlost’. I loved Robbie Arnotts book. His writing is poetic & I found myself reading several passages & sentences over & over because he brought into focus beauty I knew, but had taken for granted. The story is about a young man yearning for recognition from his family, especially his heroes - his brothers. It felt like a privilege to be inside a teenager head hearing his thoughts, fears & depths of feeling when in real life that is largely unknown. The book has many layers & although is mainly over Ned’s eighteenth summer, stretches over his lifetime with the essence of other characters drawn as required to the story.