Captivating Australian Historical Fiction — The Night on the Darling River: A Novel, by Darry Fraser

From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress:

As summer winds down, it was time for me to embrace my seriously neglected good reading habits. I have many books calling to me on my TBR pile, yet they got pushed back when a favorite Australian author’s forthcoming novel dropped on US NetGalley! With one click and the approval from her publisher, Darry Fraser’s, The Night on the Darling River went straight to the top of the list.

If you are unfamiliar with Fraser’s novels, she specializes in “empowering, feminist adventure fiction set in Australian history.” Her eight published novels take place in the environs of the Murray River, Australia’s largest river and an important transportation corridor dividing the states of New South Wales and Victoria. I adored her last novel, The Milliner of Bendigo and highly recommend it.

Here is more information on The Night on the Darling River, and my thoughts as well. If you are a book influencer, I hope you will request an advanced reader’s copy at NetGalley, or if you are not, please add it to your preorder list.

Best, Laurel Ann

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BOOK DESCRIPTION

Amid the rising flood waters and shearers’ strike violence, can one brave woman reclaim her future? From an Australian bestselling author comes a riveting historical adventure about one woman’s journey from a life of isolation to one of love and acceptance.

1894, Echuca, Victoria

Tess Hawthorn is a woman on the run from her abusive husband. All she has to do is get on the riverboat Victor and she will be free.

But with tensions at an all-time high between unionist shearers and Scabs, Tess isn’t the only person trying to board a boat under the cover of night. When a brawl erupts between the union and non-union men, Tess is mistaken for a fellow Scab and in the chaos pulled aboard the PS Rodney – the same boat heading up the Darling River that her husband was bound for.

The last person Bram Kempster expects to see on board is Tess Hawthorn, the girl he’s loved from afar since they were young. But he can’t afford to get distracted, not when he’s on an urgent trip to Renmark. Tess didn’t want him back then and, if her haughty behaviour is anything to go by, she certainly doesn’t want him now.

But childhood hurts are the least of their problems. The continent is a tinderbox of violence and bloodshed waiting to ignite, and at home the Murray River is rising fast. Can they overcome their past in time to work together and survive?

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MY THOUGHTS

In 1894 South Australia, the ebb and flow of the mighty Murray and the Darling Rivers are the powerful pulse of this captivating novel set during a turbulent strike of the sheep shearers union, the conflict with scab labor who crossed union lines, and the police.

Fraser’s characters are salt of the earth laborers caught up in the violence and strife of going up against the rich and powerful for a better living wage; — her feisty heroine, Tess Hawthorne, faces unsurmountable obstacles as well as a powerless woman in an abusive marriage. She is the soul of the story and readers will be swept up in her struggles and rooting for her during her amazing journey.

There is a darker and more serious tone to this story then Fraser’s previous novel, The Milliner of Bendigo. The conflicts and violence in The Night on the Darling River are at times difficult to be a part of, but the uplifting message of the enduring strength of the human spirit and the redeeming qualities of hope and love make this story one that you will cherish, and read again.

I highly recommend The Night on the Darling River to those who enjoy American western fiction from authors Sandra Dallas, Paulette Jiles, and Charles Portis.

5 out of 5 Stars

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BOOK INFORMATION

• The Night on the Darling River: A Novel, by Darry Fraser
• HQ Fiction (December 4, 2024)
• eBook (304) pages
• ASIN: ‎B0D64598CZ
• Genre: Historical Fiction, Australian Fiction

AMAZON | PUBLISHER | ADD TO GOODREADS

We were gifted a copy of the book from the publisher. Cover image and book description courtesy of HQ Fiction © 2024; text Laurel Ann Nattress © 2024, austenprose.com, an Amazon affiliate. No AI: material on Austenprose.com may not be used in datasets for, in the development of, or as inputs to generative AI programs.

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