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Wimmera

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Wimmera

By: Mark Brandi
Narrated by: Fabio Motta
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About this listen

Small town. Big Secret.

An unforgettable debut that brings the darkness in an Australian country town vividly to life as it slowly reveals its devastating secrets.

In the long, hot summer of 1989, Ben and Fab are best friends. Growing up in a small country town, they spend their days playing cricket, yabbying in local dams, wanting a pair of Nike Air Maxes and not talking about how Fab's dad hits him or how the sudden death of Ben's next-door neighbour unsettled him. Almost teenagers, they already know some things are better left unsaid.

Then a newcomer arrives in the Wimmera. Fab reckons he is a secret agent, and he and Ben stake him out. Up close, the man's shoulders are wide and the veins in his arms stuck out, blue and green. His hands are enormous, red and knotty. He looks strong. Maybe even stronger than Fab's dad. Neither realises the shadow this man would cast over both their lives.

Twenty years later Fab is still stuck in town, going nowhere but hoping for somewhere better. Then a body is found in the river, and Fab can't ignore the past any more.

Wimmera is the 2016 Winner of the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger.

©2017 Mark Brandi (P)2017 Hachette Australia Pty Ltd Coming of Age Crime Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Psychological Thriller & Suspense Crime Sports
All stars
Most relevant
The author creates accurately the feelings and uncertainties of adolescence. The relentless heat of the Australian bush is so well depicted that you can feel it, and the way the story weaves itself around the crux of the plot keeps the reader glued to the story.

compelling

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I read this off the back of reading ‘Less’ so it was a tall order to hit a mark that would leave me feeling satisfied. Firstly I was disarmed by Brandi’s extraordinary ability to capture the very essence of what it was like growing up in Australia in the 70s and 80s. The innocence of the 2 main characters and the business of negotiating childhood is exquisite.
But the darkness that creeps into their lives is so subtle that the growing tension leaves you on edge and yet totally ill prepared for the devastating conclusion. No book has ever had me in tears. And as Wimmera drew to a close I sobbed and sobbed.
I loved this book and felt profoundly moved by Fabio Motta’s gentle tender read. His narration provided perfect nuance to Brandi’s story of youthful innocence betrayed and destroyed beyond all recognition.

Exquisitely beautiful but devastatingly tragic.

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Really well plotted. Great Aussie colloquialisms. Written with discretion and full of emotion.

I'll remember this book for a very long time

Well Worth the Read

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Growing up in the 80's and 90's Victoria this story had some nostalgic elements. At times I was gripped and wanted more, but the end just didn't quite work for me. Fab's family history and the sentencing just didn't quite come together. I enjoyed the book and would recommend, however, don't expect a feel good experience.

Mixed feelings

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would have been better if the reader was Australin as it was strange listening to Aussie slang with a South African accent

intreaging

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This is a frustrating near miss. I love The Dry and Tim Winton giving me access to rural malaise but I knew there would be abuse as soon as the character entered the story.
Subtle but slow. I did stick it out to the end.

Very very slow

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I think there was way too much in the text about young boys’ wanking, wet dreams and fantasy stuff that just got rather tedious. I don’t know whether it was the author’s intention to try and titillate his readers, but it left this reader high and dry.
The focus should have been on the story line and plot which was left undeveloped while the author went on about the boys’ pubescent fantasies and their ‘stiffies’. It just got a bit boring and unnecessary after a while.
I was hoping the author would break out into a more mature perspective but I was disappointed ultimately by the lack
Of imagination.

Story could have been better

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I found it a captivating read with a well constructed ending. The narration complements the story so well that it gripped me throughout.

relevant to today

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The story itself was good, but where there was lots of detail in the beginning, it just trailed off at the end, and finished rather abruptly.

Just seemed to be missing bits

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Such a sad story. The book was written well and showed such an amazing story of resilience and mateship.

Great Aussie Book

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