Jane Abbott is a Melbourne writer who has worked as a jillaroo, secretary, teacher and office administrator. Her debut novel Watershed (Vintage) about a post-apocalyptic world without water won the 2014 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript. Her new young-adult novel, Elegy (Random House), tells the story of a modern Romeo and Juliet with mysterious powers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Earthsea Trilogy
Ursula Le Guin
When I was about 10 I was sick and had a couple of days off school, so my mother bought me A Wizard of Earthsea, probably to forestall any boredom. I'd visited Lewis' Narnia plenty of times, but this would be my first foray into a world disconnected entirely from our own. Paradoxically, what appealed most was its humanness. It still does. Le Guin's prose is beautifully spare; I learned that something left unwritten isn't necessarily left unsaid.
For the Term of His Natural Life
Marcus Clarke
This book tore me apart; I dreaded every page, but couldn't stop reading. It's such a tortuous tale and not only for the unfortunate Rufus Dawes, who is transported to a penal colony in Van Diemen's Land for a crime he didn't commit. As he suffered, so did I: every deprivation, every whiplash and every betrayal. And yes, I cried. Many times. It's a wonderful example of how to put a reader through the wringer.
Cotton
Christopher Wilson
I read this when it was published as The Ballad of Lee Cotton and what a ballad it is, a whimsical tale about racial and gender identity, and the redeeming power of empathy. The writing is superb, the humour dark yet warm, and Lee is, by far, the oddest character I've ever read. Suspending all disbelief, Wilson manages to stretch every imaginative thread without breaking a single one.
The Stand
Stephen King
A masterful novel by a master storyteller, The Stand was my introduction to post-apocalyptic fiction, and a riveting read for a teenager. It was written long before King became the behemoth he is today, and what impressed me most was the sheer scope of the work; it's not a small book. In his trademark style, King concentrates the narrative on character development more than supernatural horror, and it was my inspirational go-to book for a number of years.
