THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER. The long-awaited, breath-taking new novel from the multi-million copy bestselling author of The Light Between Oceans. Prepare to be transported to the vast Australian outback, where a family is bound by the secrets that they must shield in order to live...
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'Utterly glorious. I have so much love for these characters. A truly brilliant novel' FLORENCE KNAPP, author of The Names

'Stedman mixes big emotions with beautiful writing to intoxicating effect' Good Housekeeping Book of the Month
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Outback Western Australia, 1958.

For generations, the MacBrides have lived on a remote sheep station, Meredith Downs. A million arid acres, it's an ocean of land, where the weather is a capricious god, and time still roams untamed.

One ordinary day, on a lonely road, under the unending blue sky, patriarch Phil MacBride swerves to avoid a kangaroo. In seconds the lives of the entire MacBride family are shattered.

Instead of leaving wounds to heal, Fate comes for them yet again, in a twist of consequences that will cause one of them to lose their life, and another to sacrifice theirs for the sake of an innocent child.

Matt, the youngest MacBride, is plunged into a moral and emotional journey for which there is no map, no guide, as he is forced to choose between love and duty, sacrifice and happiness.

A sweeping, heart-wrenching novel of family and belonging, of compassion and hope and a powerful testament to the enduring strength of love.
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'Epic, intimate and aching. I loved it' MIRANDA COWLEY HELLER, author of The Paper Palace

'A big, bold story of resilience and hope. I was completely swept away' BONNIE GARMUS, author of Lessons in Chemistry

'Heart-wrenching and beautifully set. A gorgeous feast of a novel about family, community, love and the lengths we will go to save them all' RACHEL JOYCE, author of The Homemade God

'Truly a masterpiece. The kind of book you will remember for the rest of your life, and I love the very bones of it' JOANNA CANNON, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep

'Mesmerising and unforgettable, this sweeping novel aches with life's impossible choices, thrums with love and pain, and imprints itself on your heart. I loved it.' JOANNA GLEN, author of All My Mothers

'One of those rare books that fill the soul' DONAL RYAN, author of Heart be at Peace and The Spinning Heart

'A rich Australian epic that binds family tragedy to the landscape' New York Times