Queenslander

Farms collect broken things. Things awaiting resurrection.

Since getting out of juvie, Ronnie Madonna has built a tentative life in Lionheart working as a farmhand for Nev at Upsend Downs, but one thing is still missing: her daughter Rainbow.

When she realizes she has a chance to get Rainbow back, she must prove she is a responsible adult and a good mother. Her quest will take a village, and will force her to confront demons from her past. Will she follow her football dreams to Brisbane or put down roots on the land that holds a mysterious power over her and her boss?

Ten years ago, jaded former war photographer Nev Bickerman woke to a pregnant teenager smashing the family room with a cricket bat. Now, Nev is far too professional to admit she's falling in love.

"This extraordinary debut from Laura Garden is so many things: a lyrical ode to Queensland and its people, an exploration of love in all its many forms, a double portrait of two women who only appear to be perfect opposites to one another, but in fact share a bond deeper than blood. Queenslander, like its protagonists Ronnie and Nev, never gives up its secrets easily, but the rewards along the way are well worth the journey. Lush and transportive, tender and fierce, this is a novel that lives on well after the last page."

-Hesse Phillips, author of Lightborne