The Promise
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- $3.99
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
Across twelve blistering stories, The Promise delivers a sensitive and often humorous take on the lives of those who have loved, lost and wandered.
Using his unflinching creative gaze, he ponders love and loss and faith. A trio of amateur thieves are left in charge of a baby moments before a heist. A group of boys compete in the final of a marbles tournament, only to find their biggest challenge was the opponent they didn't see coming. Two young friends find a submerged car in their local swimming hole and become obsessed by the mystery of the driver's identity.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A young mill worker can’t escape the memories of the girl who skipped town while he was in prison; a heartbroken car park attendant sees love with fresh eyes after an encounter with an elderly woman who picks street olives; and a team of kids prepares to face their rivals in the City Marbles Championship. These are some of the characters in Tony Birch’s The Promise—an absorbing collection of short stories centred on refuge (and its guises), transformation and escape. Religiosity also repeats; in the title story, the delusional Luke remembers his grandfather, “a mission black”, whose faith he exploits to clinch a marriage that won’t survive. There is levity, too; in ‘The Money Shot’, three disorganised crims take a baby to a “job”. These masterfully told stories feature characters who are endearing, perplexing at times, and, ultimately, riveting. Birch is one of Australia’s most treasured writers for good reason.
