THE BEACH VOLCANO (Blemish Books, 2014)

2014 Canberra Critics Circle Award

After years of estrangement, Canning Albury, a revered and irreverent singer-songwriter, returns home to celebrate his father’s eightieth birthday. His welcome is mixed, at best. But Canning has made the trip for more than just a glass of Pol Roger and an eyeful of Sydney Harbour at sunset. He carries a secret about his family’s murky and uncharted past—a secret that could be explosive.

Praise:

‘Elegant and original’ – Kerryn Goldsworthy, Sydney Morning Herald

‘The Beach Volcano rises and falls to a compelling beat. Not unlike John Cheever before him, Featherstone unpicks the threads of a successful family to reveal a hollow and corrupted core. With striking imagery, the twin themes of music and water are elegantly interwoven. Unforgettable’ – Verity La

‘Nigel Featherstone’s accomplished third novella, The Beach Volcano, takes as its point of departure Tasmania, as had its predecessors, I’m Ready Now and Fall on Me. Mick Dark’s musical career is imagined in economical and vivid detail, Featherstone even managing the very difficult task of giving us a sense of how key songs were born, and might sound’ – Peter Pierce, Canberra Times

‘The Beach Volcano is as much a crime thriller as a domestic drama, and Featherstone’s third and final book in a series of what he calls novellas (but which seem so much more substantial and complete than that) stands alone as something quite original. There is a real sense of excitement as the story proceeds, a heightened suspense that is surprising in literary fiction. Utterly enthralling’ – Walter Mason, Newtown Review of Books

‘Assured and compelling, The Beach Volcano holds you to the last page and beyond’ – Andrea Goldsmith, author of The Memory Trap and Reunion

‘The thing about Featherstone’s books is that there’s potential for high drama, or, to put it more crudely, for violence and/or death. But Featherstone is not a writer of crime or thrillers. He’s interested in family and human relationships, and so, while dramatic things happen, the drama never takes over the story. The Beach Volcano is a reworking of the prodigal son story. It is about love and acceptance, but has the added theme of the need to face the past before you can truly progress into your future. In its measured way, quite the page-turner’ – Sue Terry, Whispering Gums

Out of print

I’M READY NOW (Blemish Books, 2012)

Shortlisted for the 2013 ACT Book of the Year Award

Following the death of her husband, Lynne Gleeson travels from her grand ancestral Hobart home to visit her son Gordon in Sydney. Lynne’s alone for the first time in her life and has big plans, but does she have the courage to see them through? Meanwhile Gordon, emotionally isolated and lost in his Year of Living Ridiculously, is determined to find stimulation wherever he can, regardless of the consequences. But will Gordon’s last adventure prove too much for the people who love him? 

Praise:

‘Nuanced and thoroughly original’ – The Newtown Review of Books

‘Writing novellas might seem a little anachronistic or studied, a bit like playing the harp, say, reading Henry James, or listening to LPs. In Featherstone’s hands, though, the novella form becomes an opportunity for concise, intense, concentrated emotion. For him, 156 pages are plenty to introduce plot twists, to give characters depth and feeling, to juxtapose emotions, and to colour his settings with textured, intriguing detail’ – Mark Thomas, The Canberra Times

‘Nigel Featherstone builds tension and mystery around his characters’ behaviour without undermining their realness or humanity, and without alienating readers. We warm to them even while we wonder about the wisdom of their decisions and motivations. I’m Ready Now is about living imaginatively and about liberation, but it is also about how the past can stall us if we don’t get it in the right perspective. One of Featherstone’s two epigraphs is TS Eliot’s ‘Home is where one starts from’. That says it all’ – Sue Terry, Whispering Gums

‘I’m Ready Now is masterful in its execution. This is not high impact, flashy narrative. So delicately does Featherstone introduce the nuances of his characters and the incidents in their lives that – despite their simplicity – you are drawn in, eager to learn how these flawed and real characters fare. A perfect companion to Featherstone’s previous novella, Fall on Me, and both prove the man has a commanding grip on the novella form’ – BMA Magazine

‘A powerful yet gentle narrative that grabs you and holds you till the end’ – Marion Halligan

‘Featherstone writes with sensitivity and a terrific eye for what it is that makes love – or at least sustained sexual connection – so very thrilling. Thoughtful and frequently wistful, I’m Ready Now serves as a guide to Sydney’s sadder streets and as a map of those moments of emotional maturity where you realise that it isn’t going to work out. Nuanced and thoroughly original’ – Walter Mason, Newtown Review of Books

‘An intimate, beautiful book that brings its own unique treatment to the themes that underlie all three installments in this wonderful trio of novellas’ – Daniel Young, All The Novellas

Out of print

FALL ON ME (Blemish Books, 2011)

Lou Bard busies himself running a humble Launceston café, looking after his son Luke, and doing his best to bring a sense of normality to the old worker’s cottage they rent with a series of housemates. But when Luke, an intelligent, provocative teenager, decides to risk all by making his body the focus of an art installation, Lou is forced to revisit the dark secrets of his past, question what it means to be a good father, and discover that there’s more love in his life than he could ever have imagined.

Praise:

‘Substance, seriousness and a fair dose of poignancy. Lou Bard is a memorably subtle, nuanced creation’ – Mark Thomas, The Canberra Times

‘In Fall on Me Featherstone is writing with terrific ease and fluency. He has two outstanding characters: Lou and Launceston – both attractive, complex, troubled, and engrossing’ – John Clanchy, author of Her Father’s Daughter and the award-winning Vincenzo’s Garden.

‘Warm and generous, and it feels real. The end result is a story with heart’ – Sue Terry, Whispering Gums

‘The beautiful little city of Launceston is the setting for this well-crafted tale. Featherstone manages to pack into this short novel a lot of food for thought about art, love, and survival’ – Kerryn Goldsworthy, The Sydney Morning Herald

‘Fall on Me is a finely written, warm and tense unfolding of a close family drama, where the family in question – father, teenage son, and possible third person – create their closeness, indeed the very idea of the family itself, out of the elements that threaten to destroy them’ – Roger McDonald

‘Superbly executed. While you might be able to polish it off in a few hours, there’s every chance the characters will stick with you long beyond that. An ideal example of the novella form’ – Daniel Young, All The Novellas

‘Life-affirming and very tender. Lou and Luke are both amazing in their ability to rise above the underbelly surrounding them’ – Denise Young, author of The Last Ride

Out of print