It starts with the blackness that descends when polio hits Roberta (Bertie) Lightfoot as a young child and shows the cruelty of other children and sometimes adults to her disability. From its stunning cover this book is filled with colour. With a few exceptions I am not a fan of coming of age stories, which is annoying as there seems to be a lot around at present. WINNER OF THE QUEENSLAND PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARD FOR AN EMERGING QUEENSLAND AUTHOR 2011ĬOMMENDED FOR THE FAW CHRISTINA STEAD AWARD 2012

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MILES FRANKLIN AWARD 2013 WINNER OF THE NITA B KIBBLE LITERARY AWARD 2013 Tender and witty, The Beloved is a moving debut novel which paints a vivid portrait of both the beauty and the burden of unconditional love. As secrets come to light, the domestic varnish starts to crack, and jealousy and passion threaten to forever mar the relationship between mother and daughter. In this tropical landscape, Bertie thrives amid the lush pallette of colours and abundance, secretly learning the techniques of drawing and painting under the tutelage of her mother's arch rival.īut Roberta is not the only one deceiving her family. In 1955 the family moves to post-colonial Port Moresby, a sometimes violent frontier town, where Bertie, determined to be the master of her own life canvas, rebels against her mother's strict control. While her father is happy enough to indulge Bertie's driving passion, her mother will not let art get in the way of the future she wishes for her only daughter. Through drawing, the gifted and perceptive Bertie gives form and voice to the reality of the people and the world around her.

But Mama doesn't tolerate self-pity, and Bertie is nobody if not her mother's daughter - until she sets her heart on becoming an artist. When Roberta 'Bertie' Lightfoot is struck down with polio, her world collapses. Faulkner's novel is enlivened by a strong gift for metaphor and the wisdom to use it sparingly.' '.an acute evocation of postwar Australasia.

Beloved a novel book