Author(s): Gabrielle Blondell

Fiction

A new voice in Australian fiction tells a story of trauma and the long shadow it casts over the lives of three unforgettable characters.

Fiona and her sons are fleeing her violent marriage. The farmhouse, west of Queensland's Gold Coast, is old and has been empty for many years, but Fiona says yes because the rent is low, and it is someplace else. Here, she can disappear.

Alick, an ex-army sniper, lies motionless on the ridge watching the woman and her children through his rifle scope. Something has changed. Not the house itself. That remains resilient, despite him. The changes are exterior. The paths have been cleared, the vegetable garden weeded, the broken edging heaped into cairns like the graves of dead dogs.

Sven, a young backpacker, walks the rutted track toward the old farmhouse in search of work. He joins Fiona and Alick on the property as a farmhand, but he has his own secret to protect and a history he is desperate to conceal.

Fiona, Alick and Sven carry their pasts close to the surface and they return to them in their waking hours. On this farm tucked away from the rest of the world, they confront their inner demons.

Numb is an extraordinary story of loss, fear and perseverance in the face of adversity.