The Fine Colour of Rust
-
-
3.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $10.99
Publisher Description
‘Funny and touching by turns’ DAILY MAIL
Single mother Loretta Boskovic may have fantasies about dumping her two kids in the orphanage and riding off on a Harley with her dream lover, but her reality is life in a dusty country town called Gunapan.
A self-dubbed ‘old scrag’, Loretta’s got a big heart and a strong sense of injustice. So, when Gunapan’s primary school is threatened with closure, and there’s a whiff of corruption wafting through the corridors of the local council, she stirs into action. She's short of money, influence and a fully functioning car, but she does have loyal friends who’ll do whatever it takes to hold on to the scrap of world that is home…
The Fine Colour of Rust is a wryly funny, beautifully observed, life-affirming novel about friendship, love and fighting for things that matter.
‘A delight … I found it hard to put down’ NEW BOOKS MAG
‘Warm, moving and funny’ BIG ISSUE, AUSTRALIA
‘O'Reilly's novel ought to be one of the sought-after books of the year' SATURDAY AGE, Melbourne
‘Can anyone write the story of a whirligig single mother gamely and hilariously fighting development of her small town better than Paddy O'Reilly? No, and nor should they try’ WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
Reviews
‘Delightful, laugh-out-loud funny and unforgettable. I love this book’ Toni Jordan, author of Addition
‘O’Reilly is funny and touching by turns and her style has a spare intelligence that reminded me of another of my favourite authors, the great Laurie Graham’ DAILY MAIL
‘A delight … The author has a wryly-humorous touch and, once I started reading, I found it hard to put down. It’s peopled with characters who are quirky but credible, and universally recognizable’ NEW BOOKS MAG
‘Can anyone write the story of a whirligig single mother gamely and hilariously fighting development of her small town better than Paddy O'Reilly? No, and nor should they try’ WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
‘O’Reilly displays a deft poetic touch that elevates the prose from functional to transcendent…This is a story about love: where we look for it, what we do with it and how it shows up in the most unexpected packages. It is warm, moving and funny’ BIG ISSUE, AUSTRALIA
About the author
Paddy O'Reilly is a writer from Victoria, Australia. Her work has been published and broadcast widely both in Australia and internationally. Her short story collection The End of the World garnered much review coverage in Australia and was shortlisted for several awards. Her début novel, The Factory was broadcast in fifteen episodes as the ABC Radio National Book Reading in 2009. She has also written screenplays. Paddy has spent several years living in Japan, working as a copywriter and translator.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
O'Reilly's tale of a backwater Australian town seen through the eyes of Loretta Boskovic, who struggles to make ends meet and do good for her community, is hilarious and tenderly moving. The crusading and self-deprecating Loretta lives in the middle of nowhere and fantasizes about dropping her two recalcitrant children off at an orphanage, just in time for her studly savior to appear on his Harley and whisk her away into the sunset. We meet Loretta's quirky friends such as her neighbor Norm, whose junkyard lawn is not the haphazard eyesore everyone thinks it is; and her best friend, Helen, who's got her sights set on the third grade teacher. When the government threatens to close the local school, Loretta cobbles together a resistance movement, and the resulting visit by the "Minister for Education, Elderly Care and Gaming" is as comic as it is affecting. Watching Loretta's children, 11-year-old Melissa and six-year old Jake, react to the unexpected appearance of their father and Loretta's ex, Tony, with his much younger girlfriend in tow, underscores O'Reilly's insight into fragile family dynamics. In the end, when a corrupt land-development plot is revealed and the disparate community pulls together to honor one of their newly deceased members, readers will see clearly why in this little corner of the world, even a little rust and dust is worth fighting for.
