Denizen: Winner of the Penguin Literary Prize

A rural thriller from the winner of the 2021 Penguin Literary Prize.

A gothic thriller exploring rural Australia's simultaneous celebration of harsh country and stoic people - a tension that forces its inhabitants to dangerous breaking points.

On a remote property in western NSW, nine-year-old Parker fears that something is wrong with his brain. His desperate attempts to control this internal chaos spark a series of events that gallop from his control in deadly and devastating ways.

Years later, Parker, now a father himself, returns to the bushland he grew up in for a camping trip with old friends. When this reunion descends into chaos amid revelations of unresolved fear, guilt and violence, Parker must finally address the consequences of his childhood actions.