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'Grey's mother dies giving birth to his sister Irene and the tragedy haunts his life in the small town of Mary Smokes. Grey prays that his mother will be returned to him in some form, so he might protect her from the world as his father did not. This prayer, Grey believes is answered in his sister Irene. He becomes obsessed with protecting her purity and innocence.
'Also with his mother gone and his father turned to drink, Grey begins running with the wild boys, horse-handlers and fox hunters and part-time timber workers - members of a small, vanishing tribe who find themselves caught between an old relationship with place and a new one that is exemplified by the highway that threatens their town. A rash gamble by Grey and Irene's broken father means he and the Mary Smokes boys must steal horses to ensure Irene's safety. The consequences seem set to fall on Greys' closest friend, 'Ook' Eccleston. As Grey's, Eccleston's and Irene's lives are put at stake his allegiances falter and the world of Mary Smokes slips into a heightened state of darkness and threat.
'With the passion of Emily Bronte in Wuthering Heights and the distilled beauty of Ondaatje, Patrick Holland captures the fragility and grace of small town life and how one fateful moment can forever alter the course of our lives.' (From the publisher's website.)
Notes
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Epigraph: Tarry ye here, and watch with me.
-Matthew 26:38
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Dedication: This book is for Racheal
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
The Year's Work in Fiction : 2010-2011
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , July vol. 56 no. 1 2011; (p. 167-188)
— Review of Equator : A Novel 2010 single work novel ; Rocks in the Belly 2010 single work novel ; Traitor 2010 single work novel ; The Vintage and the Gleaning 2008 single work novel ; The Grand Hotel : A Novel 2010 single work novel ; What Is Left Over, After 2008 single work novel ; The Best Australian Stories 2010 2010 anthology short story extract ; Five Bells 2011 single work novel ; The Mary Smokes Boys 2010 single work novel ; Glissando : A Melodrama 2010 single work novel ; Below the Styx 2010 single work novel ; Indelible Ink 2010 single work novel ; When Colts Ran 2010 single work novel ; Bereft 2010 single work novel ; Time's Long Ruin : A Novel 2008 single work novel ; The Legacy 2010 single work novel ; That Deadman Dance 2010 single work novel -
The Picks of the Crop
2011
single work
column
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 6 August 2011; (p. 26-27) The judges of the 2011 Age Book of the Year Awards comment on each of the fifteen shortlisted titles. Morag Fraser and Maria Tumarkin comment on the non-fiction titles, David McCooey on the poetry titles and Jo Case and Chris Flynn on the fiction titles. -
Outback Tale on Award Shortlist
2011
single work
column
— Appears in: Westside News , 18 May 2011; (p. 21) -
Peter Mathews Reviews The Mary Smokes Boys by Patrick Holland
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Mascara Literary Review , May no. 9 2011;
— Review of The Mary Smokes Boys 2010 single work novel -
Book Reviews : The Mary Smokes Boys
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Etchings , no. 9 2010; (p. 189-191)
— Review of The Mary Smokes Boys 2010 single work novel
-
[Review] The Mary Smokes Boys
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , August vol. 90 no. 1 2010; (p. 42)
— Review of The Mary Smokes Boys 2010 single work novel -
Review
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Big Issue , 31 August - 13 September no. 362 2010; (p. 41)
— Review of The Mary Smokes Boys 2010 single work novel -
Take Three
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Sunday Canberra Times , 19 September 2010; (p. 26)
— Review of The Mary Smokes Boys 2010 single work novel -
Across the Great Divide
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 18 September 2010; (p. 29)
— Review of The Mary Smokes Boys 2010 single work novel -
Book Reviews : The Mary Smokes Boys
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Etchings , no. 9 2010; (p. 189-191)
— Review of The Mary Smokes Boys 2010 single work novel -
Patrick Holland
2010
single work
biography
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 21-22 August 2010; (p. 30) -
Patrick Holland in Conversation with N A Bourke
N. A. Bourke
(interviewer),
2010
single work
interview
— Appears in: Perilous Adventures , vol. 10 no. 3 2010; -
Dreaming Country : A Murder and a Moonlit Field Spawned a Novel
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 18-19 September 2010; (p. 22) -
Outback Tale on Award Shortlist
2011
single work
column
— Appears in: Westside News , 18 May 2011; (p. 21) -
The Picks of the Crop
2011
single work
column
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 6 August 2011; (p. 26-27) The judges of the 2011 Age Book of the Year Awards comment on each of the fifteen shortlisted titles. Morag Fraser and Maria Tumarkin comment on the non-fiction titles, David McCooey on the poetry titles and Jo Case and Chris Flynn on the fiction titles.
Awards
- 2011 shortlisted The Age Book of the Year Award — Fiction Prize
- 2011 longlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
- Country towns,