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'The bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe, Trent Dalton, returns with All Our Shimmering Skies - a glorious novel destined to become another Australian classic.
'Darwin, 1942, and as Japanese bombs rain overhead, motherless Molly Hook, the gravedigger’s daughter, turns once again to the sky for guidance. She carries a stone heart inside a duffel bag next to the map that leads to Longcoat Bob, the deep country sorcerer who put a curse on her family. By her side are the most unlikely travelling companions: a razor-tongued actress named Greta and a fallen Japanese fighter pilot named Yukio. ‘Run, Molly, run,’ says the daytime sky. Run to the vine forests. Run to northern Australia’s wild and magical monsoon lands. Run to friendship. Run to love. Run. Because the graverobber’s coming, Molly, and the night-time sky is coming with him. So run, Molly, run.
'All Our Shimmering Skies is a story about gifts that fall from the sky, curses we dig from the earth and the secrets we bury inside ourselves. It is an odyssey of true love and grave danger; of the darkness and the light; of bones and blue skies. A buoyant, beautiful and magical novel abrim with warmth, wit and wonder, a love letter to Australia and the art of looking up.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Dedication :
For Fiona, Beth and Sylvie
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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30 Years After Mabo, What Do Australia’s Battler Stories – and Their Evasions – Say about Who We Are?
2022
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 22 July 2022 2022;'The Mabo decision in 1992 was a turning point for Australia. It finally overturned the dishonest doctrine of terra nullius and recognised Indigenous land rights. It was a moment of hope, accompanied by a productive tension.' (Introduction)
-
y
At Home with Trent Dalton Astrid Edwards (interviewer), 2020 23453751 2020 single work podcast interview
'Trent Dalton is a dual Walkley Award winning journalist, who also happens to be an exquisite novelist. Boy Swallows Universe took out the awards season – and the hearts of readers – and there is little doubt All Our Shimmering Skies will do the same. This interview is one of Trent's first in depth interviews about All Our Shimmering Skies, and believe it or not, he also has news about Boy Swallows Universe.
'Boy Swallows Universe is a much-loved national bestseller and critically acclaimed novel. It received the Indie Book of the Year Award and the People's Choice Award at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, as well as a record of four ABIA Awards in one year.
'Trent is a staff writer for the Weekend Australian Magazine. He is a two-time winner of the Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism, a four-time winner of a Kennedy Award for Excellence in NSW Journalism and a four-time winner of the national News Awards Features Journalist of the Year.' (Production introduction)
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Tale of Vision Vivid
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 10 October 2020; (p. 17)
— Review of All Our Shimmering Skies 2020 single work novel'Covid has been with us long enough now that some things may be said with certainty. In the realm of culture, for example, books have risen to the moment. No longer do they gather dust on bedside tables or prop up laptops for Netflix.' (Introduction)
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Trent Dalton : All Our Shimmering Skies
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , November 2020;
— Review of All Our Shimmering Skies 2020 single work novel'The author of the bestselling Boy Swallows Universe returns with a tale of a young girl’s quest.'
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Crammed with Surprises : Trent Dalton's New Novel
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 426 2020; (p. 37)
— Review of All Our Shimmering Skies 2020 single work novel'The cover of All Our Shimmering Skies is crammed with surprises. Look closely among the Australian wildflowers and you’ll find black hearts, butterflies, lightning bolts, a shovel, a crocodile, a dingo, a fruit bat, a Japanese fighter plane, and a red rising sun.' (Introduction)
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All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton Review – A Quest Fable Follow-up to Boy Swallows Universe
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 2 October 2020;
— Review of All Our Shimmering Skies 2020 single work novel'Dalton again tackles good and evil from the perspective of a heartbreaking, hopeful child – but the other characters get a little lost in the magic.'
-
Crammed with Surprises : Trent Dalton's New Novel
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 426 2020; (p. 37)
— Review of All Our Shimmering Skies 2020 single work novel'The cover of All Our Shimmering Skies is crammed with surprises. Look closely among the Australian wildflowers and you’ll find black hearts, butterflies, lightning bolts, a shovel, a crocodile, a dingo, a fruit bat, a Japanese fighter plane, and a red rising sun.' (Introduction)
-
Trent Dalton : All Our Shimmering Skies
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , November 2020;
— Review of All Our Shimmering Skies 2020 single work novel'The author of the bestselling Boy Swallows Universe returns with a tale of a young girl’s quest.'
-
Tale of Vision Vivid
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 10 October 2020; (p. 17)
— Review of All Our Shimmering Skies 2020 single work novel'Covid has been with us long enough now that some things may be said with certainty. In the realm of culture, for example, books have risen to the moment. No longer do they gather dust on bedside tables or prop up laptops for Netflix.' (Introduction)
-
A Pair of Ragged Claws
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 26 September 2020; (p. 13) -
y
At Home with Trent Dalton Astrid Edwards (interviewer), 2020 23453751 2020 single work podcast interview
'Trent Dalton is a dual Walkley Award winning journalist, who also happens to be an exquisite novelist. Boy Swallows Universe took out the awards season – and the hearts of readers – and there is little doubt All Our Shimmering Skies will do the same. This interview is one of Trent's first in depth interviews about All Our Shimmering Skies, and believe it or not, he also has news about Boy Swallows Universe.
'Boy Swallows Universe is a much-loved national bestseller and critically acclaimed novel. It received the Indie Book of the Year Award and the People's Choice Award at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, as well as a record of four ABIA Awards in one year.
'Trent is a staff writer for the Weekend Australian Magazine. He is a two-time winner of the Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism, a four-time winner of a Kennedy Award for Excellence in NSW Journalism and a four-time winner of the national News Awards Features Journalist of the Year.' (Production introduction)
-
30 Years After Mabo, What Do Australia’s Battler Stories – and Their Evasions – Say about Who We Are?
2022
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 22 July 2022 2022;'The Mabo decision in 1992 was a turning point for Australia. It finally overturned the dishonest doctrine of terra nullius and recognised Indigenous land rights. It was a moment of hope, accompanied by a productive tension.' (Introduction)
Awards
- 2021 longlisted Voss Literary Prize
- 2021 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards — The Courier-Mail People's Choice Queensland Book of the Year
- 2021 shortlisted Booksellers Choice Award BookPeople Book of the Year — Adult Fiction Book of the Year
- 2021 winner APA Book Design Awards — Best Designed Commercial Fiction Cover designed by Darren Holt
- 2021 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian Literary Fiction Book of the Year
- Darwin, Darwin area, Northern Territory,
- 1942