'This week’s extract is from two-time prize-winner Hitch, the debut novel from Australian author Kathryn Hind.
'Hitch was the inaugural winner of the Penguin Literary Prize and published last year.
'Last week it collected another prize, winning the £10,000 Betty Trask Prize for a first novel by a writer under 35, as part of the UK’s Society of Authors’ Awards.
'Elanor Dymott, Betty Trask judge, said: ‘An extraordinary take on the picaresque, Kathryn Hind’s Hitch is 100% a winner. At times I found the book so intense I had to pause to catch my breath. Moving at a pace that’s relentless, the controlled, crafted storytelling provides an elegant masterclass in how to write a novel.’
'Hitch is the story of Amelia, a young woman hitchhiking with her dog Lucy along the highways of outback Australia. Is she in more danger from what she has left behind than she is from relying on the kindness – or otherwise – of strangers on the road?
'In this extract, Amelia and Lucy are looking for a lift at a service station in Glendambo on a remote stretch of the Stuart Highway when they come across Ron and his wife. The couple’s car is pointing in the right direction, and after a distressing experience in the town that morning, Amelia is keen to leave.
'Extract courtesy of Penguin Random House'
