Disquiet

When Olivia returns to the grand chateau in France she once called home, with her two children in tow, their arrival is unexpected. They have journeyed from Australia, escaping unspoken horrors, but home is not what it was . . . ' A powerful and disquieting novella, a work of fiction so infused with the practices of film that, while each scene is fully and even vividly realised in words, it also translates quite naturally into film, into a visually rich action taking place before the inner eye.' J. M. Coetzee, Nobel Prize-winning author of Disgrace ' Disquiet is the work of an artist who looks for truth in fear and trembling . . . It testifies to the power and seriousness of one of the most talented Australian writers to appear in ages.' Peter Craven, The Australian '[Leigh] creates images which are new and memorable. She has a wonderful eye for details . . . Julia Leigh has written an extraordinary book.' Miranda France, Literary Review 'Hypnotic . . . It's difficult to imagine a reader who will not be electrified by this haunting, masterfully told story. Indeed, it's difficult to imagine a reader who will not be changed by it.' Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Olivia arrives at her mother's chateau in rural France with her two young children in tow. Soon the family is joined by Olivia's brother Marcus and his wife Sophie, but this reunion is far from joyful. After years of desperately wanting a baby, Sophie has just given birth to a stillborn child, and she is struggling to overcome her devastation. Meanwhile, Olivia wrestles with her own secrets about the cruel and violent man she married many years before