Bestselling author Fleur McDonald is back with Voices in the Dark, a powerful and poignant rural drama highlighting the complexity of family and misplaced trust.
Coming from Fleur’s own experience watching friends worry about their ageing parents, deciding who should care for them when they can no longer care for themselves and ensuring they are safe and happy, Voices in the Dark delves into unsettling territory, when the worst fears of every child who entrusts their parent’s care to someone else becomes a haunting reality.
Sassi Stapleton is called home after receiving news that her grandmother is unwell. Less than an hour away from her hometown, Barker, she swerves to miss a roo and her car rolls down an embankment. By the time she is found, her grandmother has already passed away. Sassi’s mother, Amber, returns from South Africa, and as soon as she arrives family tensions between her and her brother, Abe, are at the forefront of everyone’s minds.
It quickly becomes clear that Sassi’s grandfather Mr Stapleton is unable to live alone, so the hunt is on to find him a carer. Rasha enters the family home, firmly entrenching herself as someone they can’t do without, and before long Mr Stapleton is happier than he has been in years.
Then, however, bruises start appearing on Mr Stapleton and he becomes withdrawn, refusing to talk, even to Sassi. The family are convinced that Rasha wouldn’t hurt anyone. Amber is his daughter; Sassi, his granddaughter. None of these three could hurt Mr Stapleton. Or could they?
Voices in the Dark is a story about family, the lengths that people go to protect those they love and sometimes, to a fault, themselves.
Written by the master of rural suspense, Fleur’s latest book looks at the ways families change over time and the pressing issues of caring for the aged and elder abuse.
Fleur McDonald has lived and worked on farms for much of her life. After growing up in the small town of Orroroo in South Australia, she became a jillaroo before spending 20 years farming 8000 acres, east of Esperance, WA. Fleur likes to write about strong women overcoming adversity, drawing inspiration from her own experiences in rural Australia.
She is the best-selling author of over 20 books and two eBook exclusives. Fleur currently lives in Esperance with her two children and an energetic kelpie.
Fleur McDonald will speak about Voices in the Dark at Cooroy Library, 9 Maple St, Cooroy on Wednesday 8 November from 1.30–2.30pm.
