The Octopus and I

A stunning debut novel set on the Tasmanian coast that lays bare the wild, beating heart at the intersection of human and animal, love and loss, and fear and hope.


SHORTLISTED, UTS Glenda Adams Award for Best New Writing, NSW Premier's Literary Awards 


Lucy and Jem live on the Tasman Peninsula near Eaglehawk Neck, where Lucy is recovering from major surgery. As she tries to navigate her new body through the world, she develops a deep fascination with the local octopuses, and in doing so finds herself drawn towards the friendship of an old woman and her son. As the story unfolds, the octopuses come to shape Lucy's body and her sense of self in ways even she can't quite understand.


The Octopus and I is a stunning debut novel that explores the wild, beating heart at the intersection of human and animal, love and loss, fear and hope. 


'The Octopus and I is strange. It's singular. It's exquisite. It's haunting. It will grip you and hold you tight.' - Ailsa Piper 


'All at once exquisitely poetic, fiercely intelligent, deeply Australian and laugh-out-loud funny' - Danielle Wood 


'This gorgeous novel thrums and sings with life' - Ceridwen Dovey 


'Beautiful, captivating and wondrously oceanic.' - Robbie Arnott 


'Fascinating, engaging and lyrical - I could feel every word of this book.' - Favel Parrett