The Cane
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3.7 • 165 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Nail-biting, atmospheric, and unputdownable, the brilliant new thriller for fans of Wimmera and The Dry.
ONE MISSING GIRL.
NO SUSPECTS.
A TOWN ABOUT TO IGNITE.
Quala, a North Queensland sugar town, the 1970s.
Barbara McClymont walks the cane fields searching for Janet, her sixteen-year-old daughter, who has been missing for weeks. The police have no leads. The people of Quala are divided by dread and distrust. But the sugar crush is underway and the cane must be burned.
Meanwhile, children dream of a malevolent presence, a schoolteacher yearns to escape, and history keeps returning to remind Quala that the past is always present.
As the smoke rises and tensions come to a head, the dark heart of Quala will be revealed, affecting the lives of all those who dwell beyond the cane.
The Cane is an evocative and atmospheric thriller, and announces an exciting new voice in Australian crime writing.
'A fine, brave, perceptive writer.' - Mark Dapin, journalist and author of Public Enemies
'A stunning piece of Australian rural noir.' - Mark Brandi, bestselling author of Wimmera and The Rip
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Award-winning essayist and author Maryrose Cuskelly turns her hand to fiction for the first time, taking us back to North Queensland during the 1970s in this masterful thriller. As a mother hunts for her missing teen daughter, a town built on the sugar harvest insists on moving forward. But as the cane begins to burn, the regional town’s darkest secrets are exposed. This period piece comprehensively evokes Australian culture of the time—down to the problematic language, contemporary music and even the food choices. There are, however, also some green shoots of more modern attitudes in the form of characters such as Senior Constable Carmel Maitland, who takes no guff from her male colleagues. In The Cane, Cuskelly has created a literary time machine as well as a slow-burn small-town mystery.
Customer Reviews
Gripping read
Twists and turns throughout, the author weaves the story through many different viewpoints.
The Cane
A gripping tale told by characters you can almost see and hear as if in the room. Read in one night…it’s now early morning..