The University of Queensland Fiction Book Award

Nightingale

Laura Elvery (University of Queensland Press)

Judges' comments:

A tender and compassionate historical fiction, this imaginatively constructed novel of the life and interiority of Florence Nightingale wears lightly its careful research, delivers a sharp sense of authenticity and inner truth, and inhabits her voice and thoughts with a haunting and beautiful evocation of her final days. Combined with multiple perspectives, this is a powerful novel of determination and desire amidst the legacy of war, violence, loss and suffering. A transformative and elaborately imagined historical biography. Themes of shame, regret and ambition shape the characters’ lives along with passion, selfless devotion and courage. This portrayal of Florence Nightingale is unique and original.

Rapture

Emily Maguire (Allen & Unwin)

Judges' comments:

A powerful, rich and visceral reimagination of history, this moving, tender and passionate tale explores the life of the mind and the body in a vivid, transporting novel of faith and determination. An unforgettable, controversial young woman hides her identity to pursue a life of devotion amidst the dangers and limitations for females in ninth-century Europe. Utterly compelling and page-turning, this dazzling tale shines brightly from the shadowy, obscure and inaccessible deep past, combining intellectual curiosity, power, deception, identity and fervour. What secrets might be hidden in plain sight? What might be surrendered to gain freedom and independence? 

Wild Dark Shore

Charlotte McConaghy (Penguin Random House Australia)

Judges' comments:

A richly intriguing, tense, original, thrilling and fast-paced novel of personal grief set against climate change and impending environmental disaster, linking character and a brooding landscape with themes of loss, hope and trust during both familial and global decline. Set in Antarctica with an isolated lighthouse, a compromised seed bank, and a mysterious woman washed up on the beach, the natural world is both a threat yet precious and endangered. How do we keep our children safe? How do we go on in the face of escalating loss? How do we acknowledge and tackle the bleak while embracing the wonder?

Little World: A Novel

Josephine Rowe (Black Inc.)

Judges' comments:

A spare, distilled, strange, ethereal and beautiful novella; a fever dream of place and belonging; a dense imaginative exploration and analysis of character; a literary gem crafted in exquisite prose. A story made of stories, crossing decades and oceans with a cast of diverse and curious characters, elegant and sparse writing and imagery combined with landscape evoked with tenderness and insight. Intriguing, powerful, atmospheric and lush with profound and universal themes. Exploring questions of justice, belief and loss, this exotic historical tale of a long-dead sentient saint juxtaposed against a contemporary road trip transverses diversity, adventure, institutionalisation, violence, freedom and the quest for self. 

Out of the Woods

Gretchen Shirm (Transit Lounge)

Judges' comments:

This thought-provoking, poignant and well-researched novel dissects atrocity, genocide and the aftermath of conflict when an Australian woman travels to The Hague in 2000 to work on a war crimes trial. With subtle power, the story captures the complications of history and the chilling experiences of survivors, contrasting this with the understated normality of the woman’s middle-class comfort, and the ordinary aspect of the man on trial. Does bearing witness to the tragedy and trauma of others forever taint our world view? Full of uncomfortable truths and humanity’s inhumanity, the story is never graphically gratuitous yet conveys the ongoing pain of the horrors of Srebrenica.