Bodies of Light

by Jennifer Down

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Pub Date 11 Jul 2023 | Archive Date 22 Jun 2023

Text Publishing | Text Publishing Company

General Fiction (Adult) | Literary Fiction

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Description

So by the grace of a photograph that had inexplicably gone viral, Tony had found me. Or: he’d found Maggie.

I had no way of knowing whether he was nuts or not; whether he might go to the cops. Maybe that sounds paranoid, but I don’t think it’s so ridiculous. People have gone to prison for much lesser things than accusations of child-killing.

A quiet, small-town existence. An unexpected Facebook message, jolting her back to the past. A history she’s reluctant to revisit: dark memories and unspoken trauma, warning knocks on bedroom walls, unfathomable loss.

She became a new person a long time ago. What happens when buried stories are dragged into the light?

This epic novel from the two-time Sydney Morning Herald Young Novelist of the Year is a masterwork of tragedy and heartbreak—the story of a life in full. Sublimely wrought in devastating detail, Bodies of Light confirms Jennifer Down as one of the writers defining her generation.

So by the grace of a photograph that had inexplicably gone viral, Tony had found me. Or: he’d found Maggie.

I had no way of knowing whether he was nuts or not; whether he might go to the cops. Maybe...

Advance Praise

’Brutal and beautiful—I couldn’t stop reading it. Jennifer Down is a brilliant writer.’—Victoria Hannan, author of Kokomo

‘Mesmerising, uncompromising and extraordinary. A whole life is in these pages.’—Robbie Arnott, author of The Rain Heron

‘Fierce and compelling. Down’s compassion for her character, her refusal to look away from intolerable suffering, is a lesson for us all. A novel with immense dignity and heart.’—Carrie Tiffany, author of Exploded View

‘Jennifer Down is going to be a major part of the future of Australian literature. The quality of her writing, as well as her ability to tap into the loves, fears and anxieties many of us experience guarantee this.’—Readings Monthly

’Brutal and beautiful—I couldn’t stop reading it. Jennifer Down is a brilliant writer.’—Victoria Hannan, author of Kokomo

‘Mesmerising, uncompromising and extraordinary. A whole life is in these...