Dusk
-
-
4.1 • 36 Ratings
-
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
'Magnificent' Tim Winton
In the distant highlands, a puma named Dusk is killing shepherds. Down in the lowlands, twins Iris and Floyd are out of work, money and friends. When they hear that a bounty has been placed on Dusk, they reluctantly decide to join the hunt. As they journey up into this wild, haunted country, they discover there's far more to the land and people of the highlands than they imagined. And as they close in on their prey, they're forced to reckon with conflicts both ancient and deeply personal.
WINNER OF THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2025
WINNER OF THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS FOR FICTION 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ABIA LITERARY FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025
'Dusk is a sublime novel of loss and redemption, fight and surrender, that left me in absolute awe. Robbie Arnott's prose is incandescent, his storytelling mythic and filled with a wisdom that extends beyond the page. With Dusk, he asserts himself as one of Australia's finest literary writers.' Hannah Kent
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In Dusk, masterful Australian author Robbie Arnott delivers a quietly powerful tale set in 19th-century Tasmania, where 37-year-old twins Iris and Floyd set off on horseback to hunt a deadly puma. With a large bounty on the animal’s head, the twins’ journey becomes a test of survival as they navigate the glorious yet treacherous landscape and fend off cunning rivals. Arnott gradually peels back the layers of the twins’ past, revealing the family history of criminality and affliction that continues to haunt them. These are two complex and deeply intertwined souls through whom Arnott delivers poignant reflections on life and the landscape, exploring the balance of nature and humanity and questioning what freedom means in a world filled with brutality.
Customer Reviews
Feral cat people
Author
Tasmanian advertising copywriter and award winning novelist. His second novel, ‘The Rain Heron’ (2020), was a gem. This is his fourth.
Setting
Not specified, but it sounds a lot like Tasmania, or Van Diemen’s Land, early 19th century
Precis
Twins Iris and Floyd, the children of convicts, are living in the lowlands when they hear a puma — the titular Dusk — is killing shepherds (sheep, too presumably) in the highlands. Someone offers a bounty. The twins, who are unemployed and impecunious, join the hunt. Existential conflicts, both literal and figurative follow, along with some interpersonal ones. First Nations people play a minor role. Parental advisory: Magic realism.
Writing
Mr A writes beautifully, without sacrificing the story on the altar of purple prose, unlike a number of authors I could name. While I’m not a big fan of magic realism, he nailed it in ‘The Rain Heron.’ He falls short of that standard here IMO, although not by much.
Bottom line
Early colonial gothic