Small Mercies

by Richard Anderson

Overview

A husband and wife living on a severely drought-afflicted property take a brief break, only to find that their relationship is parched, too.

After enduring months of extreme drought on their modest freehold, farming couple Dimple and Ruthie face uncertain times on more than one front. Ruthie receives the news every woman dreads. Meanwhile, a wealthy landowner, Wally Oliver, appears on the local radio station, warning small farmers like Dimple and Ruthie that they are doomed, that the sooner they leave the land to large operators like him, the better. Bracing for a fight on all fronts, the couple decide to take a road trip to confront Oliver. Along the way, not only is their resolve tested, but their relationship as well.

Desperate not to dwell on the past but to face up to the future, Dimple and Ruthie make a crucial decision they soon regret. And when the storm clouds finally roll in across the land they love, there’s more than the rain to contend with.

Told with enormous heart, Small Mercies is a tender love story.  It is a story of a couple who feel they must change to endure, and of the land that is as important as their presence on it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781950354382
Publisher:	Scribe Publications Pty Ltd
Publication date:	09/01/2020
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x (d)

About the Author

Richard Anderson is a second-generation farmer from northern New South Wales. He has been running a beef-cattle farm for twenty-five years, but has also worked as a miner and had a stint on the local council. Richard is the author of two rural-crime novels, Retribution and Boxed, both published by Scribe. He lives with his wife, four dogs, and a cat.

Editorial Reviews

A fine-grained study of a marriage and a land in crisis…A wonderful book.”
—Jock Serong

“Anderson writes in an engaging manner, with just enough humor to lift the black to grey, without attempting in anyway to gloss over the seriousness of the subject matter...Moving, perceptive and very readable.”
—Karen Chisholm, The Blurb

Praise for Boxed:

“This is a clever and accomplished feat of storytelling with a satisfyingly gruesome climax, and a skilful evocation of Australian rural life.”
—Kerryn Goldsworthy, The Saturday Age

“Written by a farmer from northern NSW, Boxed brings to life rural Australia and all its characters in a rollicking, and at times heartbreaking, mystery.”
—Gail Barnsley, Daily Telegraph

Praise for Retribution:

“[A] slow-burning thriller that reads like a neo-Western…vividly captures the vast, rugged landscape and the brutal intensity of the heat in the back country.”
—Declan Burke, The Irish Times

From the Publisher