Publication Date: June 2023

Synopsis:

Senior journalist Allira is writing a story for Folk magazine when she meets Nora, a nursing home resident with dementia and a doll cradled lovingly in her arms. Bit by bit, Nora reveals details about her younger life as a spirited teenage girl living beneath the Great Western Tiers in Tasmania’s heartland, of stitching linings into coffins, of her illicit romance with a charming Polish-German migrant, and of a family torn apart by heartbreak.

As the two women form an unlikely friendship, Allira becomes helplessly drawn into the old woman’s story. When Allira opens up to Nora about her own recent tragedy, the secrets embedded in the story of a carved Huon pine wren become the key to a life-changing discovery from the past. It is a revelation that finally fills in the missing pieces of Nora’s history and has the power to set them both free.

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What To Expect:

Set in the mountain ranges of Tasmania’s Central Highlands, and moving between the 1950s and the present day, The Secrets of the Huon Wren is a story about two lives connected by a shared tragedy, and a universal love.

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Content Warnings:

Language: Mild infrequent language

Sexual Content: Mild (contains *spoiler*): Vague, highly emotive description of the consummation of a promise (not a formal marriage) of an underage girl

Violence: Mild – The main character is an undertakers daughters, there is mention of dead bodies and preparation for burial and open casket viewing

Substance Use: Mild – One character is a functioning alcoholic

Prejudices: Mild – Towards German migrants after WWII

Religious Themes: Occasional reference to Christianity/church/creation

Other Topics: Moderate – Infant loss/miscarriage

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