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Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon Hitch single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2019... 2019 Hitch
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'A young woman stands beside a highway in the Australian desert, alone except for her dog and the occasional road train that speeds past her raised thumb. She runs from the people she has lost, from the unsaid, from who she was, but moves ever closer to the things she longs to escape.

'After her mother’s funeral, Amelia is confronted by Zach and is reminded of the relationship they had when she was a teenager. She feels complicit and remains unable to process what happened. So she runs. Her best friend, Sid, is Zach’s cousin and the one person in the world she can depend upon.

'But, of course, the road isn’t safe either. Amelia is looking for generosity or human connection in the drivers she finds lifts with, and she does receive that. But she is also let down time and time again.

'Hitch explores consent and its ambiguities, personal agency and the choices we make. Hitch is raw. We know why Amelia is running, we know why she wants to return … but it’s the road in between that we focus on.

'But this isn’t a horror, or a thriller. It’s the story of twenty-something Amelia and her dog Lucy hitchhiking from one end of the country to the other, trying to outrun grief and trauma.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Notes

  • Dedication: For my Mother, who laughs loudly and loves fiercely.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

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  • Sound recording.
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Related Works

Extract : Hitch Kathryn Hind , 2020 extract novel (Hitch)
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , June 2020;

'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'
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Works about this Work

On a Long and Winding Road Robyn Walton , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 15 June 2019; (p. 20)
— Review of Hitch Kathryn Hind , 2019 single work novel

'The storyline of Hitch, the deserving winner of the inaugural Penguin Literary Prize, is a hitchhiker’s progress. Kathryn Hind’s hurting protagonist, Amelia, hitches with her dog through outback South Australia, randomly encountering strangers who ­respond variously to her vulnerability, some with concern, others with indifference or opportunism.' (Introduction)
Kathryn Hind : Hitch Maria Takolander , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 29 June - 5 July 2019;

'A woman hitchhiking alone through the Australian outback: it is a scenario that has been used as fodder for many horror stories. It is also the scenario of Kathryn Hind’s debut novel, Hitch, which introduces readers to the vulnerable Amelia, hitchhiking outside Alice Springs, armed with a backpack, an almost-empty bottle of water and her dog, Lucy. It soon becomes apparent that the alarmingly ill-equipped Amelia isn’t particularly invested in her own survival.'  (Introduction)
On a Long and Winding Road Robyn Walton , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 15 June 2019; (p. 20)
— Review of Hitch Kathryn Hind , 2019 single work novel

'The storyline of Hitch, the deserving winner of the inaugural Penguin Literary Prize, is a hitchhiker’s progress. Kathryn Hind’s hurting protagonist, Amelia, hitches with her dog through outback South Australia, randomly encountering strangers who ­respond variously to her vulnerability, some with concern, others with indifference or opportunism.' (Introduction)
Kathryn Hind : Hitch Maria Takolander , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 29 June - 5 July 2019;

'A woman hitchhiking alone through the Australian outback: it is a scenario that has been used as fodder for many horror stories. It is also the scenario of Kathryn Hind’s debut novel, Hitch, which introduces readers to the vulnerable Amelia, hitchhiking outside Alice Springs, armed with a backpack, an almost-empty bottle of water and her dog, Lucy. It soon becomes apparent that the alarmingly ill-equipped Amelia isn’t particularly invested in her own survival.'  (Introduction)
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Awards

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Last amended 19 Jun 2020 10:08:30
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