Acclaimed by the New Yorker as a 'furious and perceptive' writer of 'sharp, evocative and poetic' fiction, Cate Kennedy has a rare talent - the ability to write life with needlepoint emotional precision. In The World Beneath, her first novel, she has used all of her gifts to craft a gorgeous, stark family drama - a story of a father and daughter lost in the eerie, treacherous beauty of the Tasmanian mountains. Fifteen years after he walked out on his wife and child, Richard takes his teenage daughter on a mountain hike. Against the jaw-dropping beauty of the Tasmanian mountain forests and lakes, he hopes he will be able to bridge the rift between them. But Sophie and her father soon find themselves out of their depth - lost in a treacherous, freezing landscape, two strangers battling against each other and the hostile elements.
'A thoughtful debut novel reminiscent of Hornby . . . Well-observed and thoughtfully funny . . . Life, Kennedy suggests, is largely resistant to our schemes and resolutions. Faced with the realities of both the natural world and our thorny personal relationships, we need more than good intentions.' -- Minneapolis Star-Tribune
'Kennedy evokes a more lyrical version of Jodi Picoult . . . hitting the reader with raw, heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious prose. . . . A wise and graceful debut novel . . . Kennedy is an author to watch.' -- Library Journal
'A very effective blend of social comedy and lyrically precise naturalism. . . . Kennedy writes like an Antipodean Anne Tyler, wryly aware of the heart's internal contradictions yet slow to judge. Subtle allusions to the myth of Persephone add another level to this impressive tale of self-reliance and self-delusion.' -- Financial Times
Author
About Cate Kennedy
Cate Kennedy's first book, the acclaimed short story collection Dark Roots, was shortlisted for the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal. She is also the author of the travel memoir Sing and Don't Cry: A Mexican Journal and the poetry collections Joyflight and Signs of Other Fires. The World Beneath is her first novel.
