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'In the long, hot summer of 1989, Ben and Fab are best friends.
'Growing up in a small country town, they spend their days playing cricket, yabbying in local dams, wanting a pair of Nike Air Maxes and not talking about how Fab's dad hits him or how the sudden death of Ben's next-door neighbour unsettled him. Almost teenagers, they already know some things are better left unsaid.
'Then a newcomer arrived in the Wimmera. Fab reckoned he was a secret agent and he and Ben staked him out. Up close, the man's shoulders were wide and the veins in his arms stuck out, blue and green. His hands were enormous, red and knotty. He looked strong. Maybe even stronger than Fab's dad. Neither realised the shadow this man would cast over both their lives.
'Twenty years later, Fab is still stuck in town, going nowhere but hoping for somewhere better. Then a body is found in the river, and Fab can't ignore the past any more.'
(Publication Summary)
Notes
-
For Tomassina and Tommaso
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
- Also dyslexic edition
Works about this Work
-
Hot on the Trail of Dirty Deeds
2017
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 30 December 2017; (p. 16)
— Review of Wimmera 2017 single work novel ; Fatal Mistake 2017 single work novel ; The Student 2017 single work novel ; And Fire Came Down 2017 single work novel'For Emma Viskic, the challenge of her second novel, And Fire Came Down, is to build on the success of her prize-winning 2015 debut, Resurrection Bay. Appearing again is one of the most intriguing recent protagonists of Australian crime fiction: the deaf private investigator Caleb Zelic, a man self-destructively redoubtable and the cause — as he fears — of harm all around him.' (Introduction)
-
[Review] Wimmera
2017
single work
column
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 395 2017; (p. 33)
— Review of Wimmera 2017 single work novel'The tagline of Wimmera is ‘Small town. Big secret’. Mark Brandi’s first novel does indeed feature a secret (and a grim one, at that), but it also offers a disturbing insight into Australian masculinity. The book opens in the country circa 1989. Ben and Fab are primary school students who, both misfits, while away the hours catching yabbies, playing cricket, and watching The Wonder Years. Fab’s father is abusive, but they find solace in their friendship. Then Ronnie Bellamy appears in their lives. Ronnie is a ‘tall, muscular’ man who works in the nearby mines. He charms the boys with his friendly demeanour and stash of porn magazines, but he has ulterior motives. Fast-forward to 2006: Fab remains in his childhood town, working menial jobs and drinking excessively. He seems reluctant to confront his past, though a gruesome discovery forces him to do just that.' (Introduction)
-
Mark Brandi : Wimmera
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 15-21 July 2017;'In the prologue of Mark Brandi’s award-winning debut novel, Wimmera, something unusual is discovered by two young boys in a fast-flowing river. It’s a green wheelie bin with the lid bolted on, “like someone wanted it closed up really tight … like they didn’t want what was in there to ever come out”.'
-
Untying the Knots
Deborah Crabtree
(interviewer),
2017
single work
interview
— Appears in: Books + Publishing , May vol. 96 no. 4 2017; (p. 24)'Mark Brandi's debut crime novel Wimmera is a 'languid and unsettling' story about two boys growing up together in a small town in the 1980's. He spoke to reviewer Deborah Crabtree.
(Publication Summary)
-
[Review] Wimmera
2017
single work
column
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 395 2017; (p. 33)
— Review of Wimmera 2017 single work novel'The tagline of Wimmera is ‘Small town. Big secret’. Mark Brandi’s first novel does indeed feature a secret (and a grim one, at that), but it also offers a disturbing insight into Australian masculinity. The book opens in the country circa 1989. Ben and Fab are primary school students who, both misfits, while away the hours catching yabbies, playing cricket, and watching The Wonder Years. Fab’s father is abusive, but they find solace in their friendship. Then Ronnie Bellamy appears in their lives. Ronnie is a ‘tall, muscular’ man who works in the nearby mines. He charms the boys with his friendly demeanour and stash of porn magazines, but he has ulterior motives. Fast-forward to 2006: Fab remains in his childhood town, working menial jobs and drinking excessively. He seems reluctant to confront his past, though a gruesome discovery forces him to do just that.' (Introduction)
-
Hot on the Trail of Dirty Deeds
2017
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 30 December 2017; (p. 16)
— Review of Wimmera 2017 single work novel ; Fatal Mistake 2017 single work novel ; The Student 2017 single work novel ; And Fire Came Down 2017 single work novel'For Emma Viskic, the challenge of her second novel, And Fire Came Down, is to build on the success of her prize-winning 2015 debut, Resurrection Bay. Appearing again is one of the most intriguing recent protagonists of Australian crime fiction: the deaf private investigator Caleb Zelic, a man self-destructively redoubtable and the cause — as he fears — of harm all around him.' (Introduction)
-
Untying the Knots
Deborah Crabtree
(interviewer),
2017
single work
interview
— Appears in: Books + Publishing , May vol. 96 no. 4 2017; (p. 24)'Mark Brandi's debut crime novel Wimmera is a 'languid and unsettling' story about two boys growing up together in a small town in the 1980's. He spoke to reviewer Deborah Crabtree.
(Publication Summary)
-
Mark Brandi : Wimmera
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 15-21 July 2017;'In the prologue of Mark Brandi’s award-winning debut novel, Wimmera, something unusual is discovered by two young boys in a fast-flowing river. It’s a green wheelie bin with the lid bolted on, “like someone wanted it closed up really tight … like they didn’t want what was in there to ever come out”.'
Awards
- 2018 shortlisted Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing — Best First Novel
- 2018 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — The Matt Richell Award for New Writer
- 2018 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian Literary Fiction Book of the Year
- 2018 winner Indie Awards — Debut Fiction
-
2016
commended
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards
—
Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript by an Emerging Victorian Writer
As 'To Skin a Rabbit'
- Wimmera River, The Grampians, Grampians - Pyrenees area, Victoria,
- 1989