The Sun Walks Down cover art

The Sun Walks Down

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Sun Walks Down

By: Fiona McFarlane
Narrated by: Emma Jones
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

In September 1883, the South Australian town of Fairly huddles under strange, vivid sunsets. Six-year-old Denny Wallace has gone missing during a dust storm, and the whole town is intent on finding him. As they search the desert and mountains for the lost child, the residents of Fairly—newlyweds, landowners, farmers, mothers, artists, Indigenous trackers, cameleers, children, schoolteachers, widows, maids, policemen—explore their own relationships with the complex landscape and unsettling history of the Flinders Ranges.

The colonial Australia of The Sun Walks Down is unfamiliar, multicultural, and noisy with opinions, arguments, longings and terrors. It’s haunted by many gods—the sun among them, rising and falling on each day that Denny could be found, or lost forever.

2023, Indie Book Awards Fiction, Long-listed

2023, Walter Scott Prize, Short-listed

2023, Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) Literary Fiction Book of the Year, Short-listed

2023, Queensland Literary Awards, Short-listed

2023, ARA Historical Novel Prize Adult, Long-listed

2023, Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Short-listed

2023, The Age Book of the Year Award Fiction, Short-listed

2024, NSW Premier's Literary Awards Fiction, Short-listed

©2022 Fiona McFarlane (P)2022 Bolinda Publishing Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural

Critic Reviews

"Brilliant, fresh and compulsively readable. It is marvelous. I loved it start to finish." (Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House)

"Gorgeous storytelling and superb characters... Fiona McFarlane is an extraordinary writer, one of the best working today." (Michelle de Kretser, author of Scary Monsters)
All stars
Most relevant  
McFarlane gives voice to diverse characters not usually represented. For me plot of the lost boy is just a backdrop to unpacking the experiences and attitudes of Australia's colonisation. Stunning figurative language throughout weaves descriptions of the land, sky and people at times funny, at times hyperreal, at times supernatural. Sadly I didn't always believe the narrator, but probably just me.

Beautiful, multilayered writing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
“Australia is the country of lost children”, quoth Bruce Chatwin…. This is a fine novel albeit too long. It has an impeccable sense of character and a middling sense of place. It could be more compelling but I look forward to the author’s great promise. It’s reasonably read bar the occasional mispronunciation. Thanks.

Promising

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A ramble of uttering that brought out great impatience to get on with the story. I wanted to like it. I wanted to stay deep in the story … but I couldn’t. Irritation and drifting off thinking of other things to the point I lost the point! And back I would go to find out where I was up to! Too many times. Care factor became zero.
Sorry to say but it is true. Still searching for that next great read / listen.

Annoying narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.