Hope Farm

Hope Farm is the masterful second novel from award-winning author Peggy Frew and is a devastatingly beautiful story about the broken bonds of childhood, and the enduring cost of holding back the truth. "They were inescapable, the tensions of the adult world - the fraught and febrile aura that surrounded Ishtar and those in her orbit, that whined and creaked like a wire pulled too tight." It is the winter of 1985. Hope Farm sticks out of the ragged landscape like a decaying tooth, its weatherboard walls sagging into the undergrowth. Silver's mother, Ishtar, has fallen for the charismatic Miller, and the three of them have moved to the rural hippie commune to make a new start. At Hope, Silver finds unexpected friendship and, at last, a place to call home. But it is also here that, at just thirteen, she is thrust into an unrelenting adult world - and the walls begin to come tumbling down, with deadly consequences. "Completely absorbing. Hope Farm is elegant, tender, and very wise." - Chris Womersley, award-winning author of Bereft and Cairo WINNER OF THE 2016 BARBARA JEFFERIS AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2016 STELLA PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2016 MILES FRANKLIN AWARD 'They were inescapable, the tensions of the adult world — the fraught and febrile aura that surrounded Ishtar and those in her orbit, that whined and creaked like a wire pulled too tight.' It is the winter of 1985. Hope Farm sticks out of the ragged landscape like a decaying tooth, its weatherboard walls sagging into the undergrowth. Silver's mother, Ishtar, has fallen for the charismatic Miller, and the three of them have moved to the rural hippie commune to make a new start. At Hope, Silver finds unexpected friendship and, at last, a place to call home. But it is also here that, at just thirteen, she is thrust into an unrelenting adult world — and the walls begin to come tumbling down, with deadly consequences. Hope Farm is the masterful second novel from award-winning author Peggy Frew, and is a devastatingly beautiful story about the broken bonds of childhood, and the enduring cost of holding back the truth. PRAISE FOR PEGGY FREW 'In its exploration of maternal, sexual, unrequited and platonic relationships, Hope Farm is a finely calibrated study of love, loss and belonging.' The Sunday Age 'Frew is a gifted writer, evidenced here by finely balanced observations and atmospheric description ... Silver is poised at the beginning of adult understanding and Frew handles the challenge with deftness. Silver's insight and compassion are juxtaposed with naivety and the idealistic force of her first crushes.' The Weekend Australian It is the winter of 1985, and 13-year-old Silver Landes is about to be pushed towards a decision that could split her world apart. Her mother, Ishtar, has fallen for the charismatic but unnerving Miller, and the three of them have moved from Brisbane to Hope Farm, a run-down hippie commune in rural Gippsland 'Hope Farm' is the masterful second novel from award winning author Peggy Frew, and is a devastatingly beautiful story about the broken bonds of childhood and the enduring cost of holding back the truth