Unsettled Ground cover art

Unsettled Ground

Winner of the Costa Novel Award 2021

Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Unsettled Ground

By: Claire Fuller
Narrated by: Rachel Bavidge
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

WINNER OF THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2021
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2021


When you live on the edge of society, it only takes one step to fall between the cracks

Twins Jeanie and Julius have always been different from other people. At 51 years old, they still live with their mother, Dot, in rural isolation and poverty. Inside the walls of their old cottage they make music, and in the garden they grow (and sometimes kill) everything they need for sustenance.

But when Dot dies suddenly, threats to their livelihood start raining down. Jeanie and Julius would do anything to preserve their small sanctuary against the perils of the outside world, even as their mother's secrets begin to unravel, putting everything they thought they knew about their lives at stake.

Unsettled Ground is a powerful novel of betrayal and resilience, love and survival. It is a portrait of life on the fringes of society that explores with dazzling emotional power how we can build our lives on broken foundations, and spin light from darkness.
____________________________________________________________________

'Her strongest yet... a powerful, beautiful novel that shows us our land as it really is: a place of shelter and cruelty, innocence and experience' THE TIMES

'A relevant and powerful exploration of isolation and life on the fringes of society' CLARE MACKINTOSH, author of Hostage

'An atmospheric thriller that's both heartbreaking and heartwarming' RED

'The way she writes (with empathy but never sentimentality) moves my heart' ELIZABETH DAY, author of Magpie

© Claire Fuller 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Domestic Thrillers Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Heartfelt

Critic Reviews

Her strongest yet... a powerful, beautiful novel that shows us our land as it really is: a place of shelter and cruelty, innocence and experience
Dark, brilliantly observed and ultimately a tale of love winning the day.
An intriguing, moving novel that will make you question assumptions you have about modern life
Superb...deservedly longlisted for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction
A moving portrait of a family struggling against time. This book is ultimately about redemption-about the unexpected importance of neighbours, lovers, and friends, and the ways in which we can re-envision our lives for the better
So sharply, so utterly brilliant that I found myself holding my breath while reading it, dazzled by Fuller's mastery and precision.
With sensitivity and intelligence, Fuller unpicks the relentless complexity of the modern world
'The way she writes (with empathy but never sentimentality) moves my heart'
Fuller is excellent at description, and capturing the twins' awkward interactions with the world. The fate of the illiterate and weak-hearted Jeanie once she loses everything that is safe is particularly unsettling
It's merciless in its observation of casual cruelty and merciful in its observation of casual kindness and family love
All stars
Most relevant
I very much enjoyed this book! Some may find it slow and uneventful, but the characters are terrific, eccentric, unpredictable at times. I think deep down this is a story of an abusive and selfish mother who has not prepared her children to live in the real world and the terrible situation two grown siblings find themselves in when she is gone.

Great story!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I really enjoyed this. Set in an English village, in my mind I could imagine the place. Good characters and Story.

Very enjoyable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Couldn’t listen to more than half way, as the story line and monotone reading left me feeling down.

Depressing

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.