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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'How far would your government go?
'A right-wing US president has withdrawn America from the Middle East and the UN. Daesh has a thoroughfare to the sea and China is Australia's newest ally. When a bomb goes off in remote Tasmania, Astrid Coleman agrees to return home to help her brother before an upcoming election. But this is no simple task. Her brother and sister are on either side of politics, the community is full of conspiracy theories, and her father is quoting Shakespeare. Only on Bruny does the world seem sane.
'Until Astrid discovers how far the government is willing to go.
'Bruny is a searing, subversive, brilliant novel about family, love, loyalty and the new world order.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Notes
-
In May 2020, it was announced that the television rights to Bruny had been optioned by Film Arts Media, producer of The Dressmaker. The adaptation was set to be produced by Charlotte Seymour and Sue Maslin. (Source: https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2020/05/22/151011/bruny-and-smashed-avocado-optioned-for-tv/)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
- Sound recording.
- Dyslexic edition.
Works about this Work
-
Tasmania First : Ecofascism and the Settler Invasion Fantasy
2023
single work
essay
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 249 2023; (p. 3-16)'Part way through Bruny, Heather Rose's first foray into the thriller genre, Dr Astrid Coleman (UN fixer and covert CIA agent. 'six feet tall and trained to defend myself', twin sister to the Tasmanian premier, half-sister to the Tasmanian opposition leader, scion of a political dynasty and proud 'sixth-generation Tasmanian) turns to her love interest. Dan Macmillan (retired-paratrooper-turned-tradie-turned-works-manager with a Celtic sleeve tattoo, 'Paul Newman blue' eyes and 'a Chris Pine been-down-Texas-robbing-a-bank look' but 'strong' like Chris Hemsworth) as he skins up a joint to ask 'Why are we letting paradise get invaded?' The two have just conspired with Astrid's brother, Liberal premier John 'JC' Coleman, to conceal the death of a Chinese worker on a vast suspension bridge being built to connect Bruny Island and its mixture of wealthy holiday shack owners, gastronomes, bespoke hoteliers and artisanal farmers to the Tasmanian mainland—a project bankrolled by the Chinese Communist Party's Belt and Road initiative, waved through at the highest levels of state and federal government. The dead worker is one of hundreds flown in from China, their extra labour necessitated by a terrorist attack that takes out half the bridge just before construction is complete —an attack later revealed as a false flag operation carried out by the Australian secret services.' (Introduction)
-
Australian Science Fiction
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: SF Commentary , July vol. 102 no. 2020; (p. 102-109)
— Review of On the Beach 1957 single work novel ; Bruny 2019 single work novel ; The Cruel Stars 2019 single work novel ; Ghost Species 2020 single work novel -
y
A Conversation with Heather Rose
Amanda Rayner
(interviewer),
2020
23469941
2020
single work
podcast
interview
'2017 Stella Prize winner Heather Rose chats with Readings bookseller Amanda Rayner about her new novel, Bruny.' (Production summary)
-
Being There
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Inside Story , November 2019;
— Review of Bruny 2019 single work novel 'Heather Rose has written a novel for uncertain times' -
Chafing Satire and Explosive Views
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 9 November 2019; (p. 21)
— Review of Bruny 2019 single work novel
-
Explosions and Digressions
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 415 2019; (p. 51)
— Review of Bruny 2019 single work novel'Tasmanian writer Heather Rose’s fifth adult novel, Bruny, about a joint venture between the Chinese, Australian, and Tasmanian governments, is well timed, given current concerns about the covert infiltration of the Chinese Communist Party into Australia’s universities and given Federal MP Andrew Hastie’s recent warning that Australia should approach its relations with China with care, lest its sovereignty be diminished. Rose’s last novel, The Museum of Modern Love, which in 2017 won the Stella Prize and the Christina Stead Prize, is set in New York. In Bruny, Rose returns to Tasmania where her earlier novels are set. Part political thriller, part family saga, part love letter to Tasmania, this is her most ambitious novel to date. Bruny covers a multitude of issues, including family loyalty, betrayal, corruption, environmental protection, and the rise of China.'(Introduction)
-
Bruny Review : Heather Rose’s New Book Has a Sense of Place yet Taps into Global Unease
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 24 October 2019;
— Review of Bruny 2019 single work novel'When in 2017 Nordstrom began selling US$425 jeans (A$620) covered in fake mud, it seemed the long prophesied “late stage capitalism” had finally arrived. Suddenly the phrase itself was everywhere from Reddit to Twitter and applied to every freakish story about excessive consumption or corporate perfidy.' (Introduction)
-
Chafing Satire and Explosive Views
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 9 November 2019; (p. 21)
— Review of Bruny 2019 single work novel -
Being There
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Inside Story , November 2019;
— Review of Bruny 2019 single work novel 'Heather Rose has written a novel for uncertain times' -
Australian Science Fiction
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: SF Commentary , July vol. 102 no. 2020; (p. 102-109)
— Review of On the Beach 1957 single work novel ; Bruny 2019 single work novel ; The Cruel Stars 2019 single work novel ; Ghost Species 2020 single work novel -
y
A Conversation with Heather Rose
Amanda Rayner
(interviewer),
2020
23469941
2020
single work
podcast
interview
'2017 Stella Prize winner Heather Rose chats with Readings bookseller Amanda Rayner about her new novel, Bruny.' (Production summary)
-
Tasmania First : Ecofascism and the Settler Invasion Fantasy
2023
single work
essay
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 249 2023; (p. 3-16)'Part way through Bruny, Heather Rose's first foray into the thriller genre, Dr Astrid Coleman (UN fixer and covert CIA agent. 'six feet tall and trained to defend myself', twin sister to the Tasmanian premier, half-sister to the Tasmanian opposition leader, scion of a political dynasty and proud 'sixth-generation Tasmanian) turns to her love interest. Dan Macmillan (retired-paratrooper-turned-tradie-turned-works-manager with a Celtic sleeve tattoo, 'Paul Newman blue' eyes and 'a Chris Pine been-down-Texas-robbing-a-bank look' but 'strong' like Chris Hemsworth) as he skins up a joint to ask 'Why are we letting paradise get invaded?' The two have just conspired with Astrid's brother, Liberal premier John 'JC' Coleman, to conceal the death of a Chinese worker on a vast suspension bridge being built to connect Bruny Island and its mixture of wealthy holiday shack owners, gastronomes, bespoke hoteliers and artisanal farmers to the Tasmanian mainland—a project bankrolled by the Chinese Communist Party's Belt and Road initiative, waved through at the highest levels of state and federal government. The dead worker is one of hundreds flown in from China, their extra labour necessitated by a terrorist attack that takes out half the bridge just before construction is complete —an attack later revealed as a false flag operation carried out by the Australian secret services.' (Introduction)
Awards
- 2020 longlisted Mark and Evette Moran Nib Award for Literature
- 2020 shortlisted Davitt Award — Best Adult Crime Novel
- 2020 shortlisted Booksellers Choice Award BookPeople Book of the Year — Adult Fiction Book of the Year
- 2020 winner Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian General Fiction Book of the Year
- 2020 longlisted APA Book Design Awards — Best Designed Commercial Fiction Cover Cover designed by Sandy Cull
- Bruny Island, Southeast Tasmania, Tasmania,
- Tasmania,
