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'They tried Mansfield but it was freezing and snowed and people like them don’t fit in because they don’t look prosperous. One time near Yellingbo they found a church no one prayed in and they lived there and for three weeks had stained glass for windows…They got chased out and went to Shepparton but Shane had a run-in and police said move.
'Shane, Moira and Midge, along with young Zara and Rory, are ‘trants’—itinerants roaming the plains north-west of Melbourne in search of disused houses to sleep in, or to strip of heritage fittings when funds are low. When they find their Tree Palace outside Barleyville, things are looking up. At last, a place in which to settle down.
'But Zara, fifteen, is pregnant and doesn’t want a child. She’d rather a normal life with town boys, not trant life with a baby. Moira decides to step in: she’ll look after her grandchild. Then Shane finds himself in trouble with the local cops…
'Warmly told and witty, Craig Sherborne’s second novel is a revelation—an affecting story of family and rural life.' (Publisher's blurb)
Notes
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Dedication: For Gordon Glenn
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Epigraph:
And round about there is a rabble
Of the filthy, sturdy, unkillable infants of the very poor.
They shall inherit the earth.
–Ezra Pound, 'The Garden'
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
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Trant Life
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 29 no. 2 2015; (p. 491-492)
— Review of Tree Palace 2014 single work novel -
Their Place in the Country
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , November vol. 58 no. 11 2014; (p. 108-109)
— Review of Tree Palace 2014 single work novel -
Homeless Wonder on Victoria's Plains
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Eureka Street , 14 March vol. 24 no. 4 2014; (p. 1-3)
— Review of Tree Palace 2014 single work novel -
Ties That Bind in Forgotten Places
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 18 May 2014; The Age , 18 May 2014;
— Review of Tree Palace 2014 single work novel -
Bloodlines
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 360 2014; (p. 22)
— Review of Tree Palace 2014 single work novel
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[Untitled]
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Books + Publishing , February vol. 93 no. 3 2014; (p. 21)
— Review of Tree Palace 2014 single work novel -
Moving and Terrifying Work a Triumph on Many Fronts
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 5-6 April 2014; (p. 30-31) The Canberra Times , 5 April 2014; (p. 22) The Age , 5 April 2014; (p. 30)
— Review of Tree Palace 2014 single work novel -
Strange Poetry of Lives Entwined
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 5-6 April 2014; (p. 18)
— Review of Tree Palace 2014 single work novel -
[Untitled]
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Monthly , April no. 99 2014; (p. 54)
— Review of Tree Palace 2014 single work novel -
Bloodlines
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 360 2014; (p. 22)
— Review of Tree Palace 2014 single work novel
Awards
- 2015 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award