Nine-year-old (nearly ten) Alfred Edward Deegan Bains – Alfie, is inquisitive, perceptive and seeking the truth about his father.
Alfie has recently landed in the North-West Tasmanian town of Beggar’s Rock with his mother Emilia from Ireland, angry and seeking to crack the secrets that are so closely guarded. With determination, Alfie sets a plan in place to discover why he has lived his entire life in Ireland and not known about his extended family in Tasmania. Just who is his father? And why does it all seem so complicated?
Told through the lens of Alfie, his view of the world is endearing and perceptive. He has a unique persona that confronts truths that need to be faced in family, but Alfie is the one who can be the balm that brings healing from the past ten years.
Solid, direct, all-encompassing sensitive writing makes this debut novel one that will linger long past the last page.
Sue Reid
Read By Reid
Allen and Unwin Australia publishers
ISBN 9781761471476