The Piper's Son

Description

Melina Marchetta's brilliant, heart-wrenching novel The Piper's Son continues the story of the group from Saving Francesca - only it's five years later and this time Thomas Mackee is the one who needs saving. Thomas Mackee wants oblivion. Wants to forget fathers who leave, and parents splitting up, and friends he used to care about, and a string of one night stands, and favourite uncles being blown to smithereens on their way to work on the other side of the world. When his flatmates turn him out of the house, Tom moves in with his single, pregnant aunt, Georgie. And starts working at The Union pub with his former friends, Francesca and Justine. And winds up living with his grieving alcoholic father again. And in a year where everything's broken, Tom realises that his family and friends need him to help put the pieces back together as much as he needs them. Longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, Shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award, Shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Award and Shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Literary Award.

Melina Marchetta is one of Australia's most successful writers of young-adult fiction and is a best-selling and critically acclaimed author in more than twenty countries and in eighteen languages. In 2009 Marchetta won the prestigious Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association for On the Jellicoe Road, and Melina's screenplay for this book is currently set to be made into a major film with an international cast to be directed by Looking for Alibrandi director Kate Woods. Melina has written for ABC-TV's Dance Academy. Finnikin of the Rock, Book One of the Lumatere Chronicles,was first published in Australia in 2008, followed in 2010 by the companion novel to her award-winning book Saving Francesca, The Piper's Son, long-listed for the Miles Franklin Award and short-listed for many other literary awards in Australia and internationally. Melina is also the author of The Gorgon in the Gully, which takes up the story of On the Jellicoe Road's Jonah Griggs's family, and stars his younger brother Danny in this story for younger readers. Book Two in the Lumatere Chronicles, Froi of the Exiles, was published in 2011, and Book Three, Quintana of Charyn, was published in 2012. 2012 also marked the twenty-year anniversary of Melina Marchetta's first novel Looking for Alibrandi, the much-loved Australian classic, which was made into a major motion picture and has sold more than half a million copies in Australia.

'While it is a sequel to the brilliant Saving Francesca, The Piper's Son works as a stand-alone book. Indeed it's a story so full of heart - sorrowful, but warm and funny - it won't be easy to forget.' The Sydney Morning Herald. 'The Piper's Son left me breathless with heart pounding -- it is a beautifully written love song about the flaws and strengths of family and the long journey of grief, about the love and laughter and disappointments that tie people together.' A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy. 'Tom's voice is utterly convincing and it's a satisfying experience to watch Marchetta take a broken fragmented and frequently unlikable character and piece him back together, word by word . . . Outstanding fiction.' The Sunday Age. 'For all their talk of broken homes and migrant families, Marchetta's novels are fantasies of community and belonging.' The Weekend Australian. 'This story with its cast of rounded, beautifully crafted characters and dialogue shining with humor, pathos, and a vital spark, makes for a fiercely emotional and entertaining read.' Bookseller and Publisher. 'The characters are amazing. Flawed, realistic and loveable. I admit after reading Saving Francesca I had a bit of a crush on Thomas Mackee and this book didn't help with that.' Irresistible Reads.