An Isolated Incident

Emily Maguire author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Eye Books

Published:7th Aug '18

Should be back in stock very soon

An Isolated Incident cover

'Superb writing and sense of place. Totally credible voices. Read her!' - Ann Cleeves, 'A beautifully, beautifully written book which has introduced crime fiction to a much wider literary audience' - Emma Viskic

A humane and beautifully observed tale of everyday violence, the media's obsession with pretty dead girls and the myth of closureWhen 25-year-old Bella Michaels is brutally murdered in the small town of Strathdee, the community is stunned and a media storm descends. Unwillingly thrust into the eye of that storm is Bella's beloved older sister, Chris, a barmaid at the local pub, whose apparently easygoing nature conceals hard-won wisdom and the kind of street-smarts that only experience can bring.

"This is far more than a page-turning crime drama, though it is also that. Maguire's focus is on those left behind, the often unacknowledged victims of violent crimes. . . . It is a nuanced portrait of a group of flawed characters, male and female, responding to a tragedy. . . . Above all this is a powerful and provocative examination of grief and, in Chris, Emily Maguire has created a character who resounds in the imagination." --Newtown Review of Books "A harrowing, fascinating, compelling work from an accomplished and thoughtful Australian writer who uses the vehicle of a young woman's death to question and explore society's treatment of women, the everyday violence it condones and its intrusive fascination with the murder of pretty young women." --Australian "Utterly engrossing . . . skilfully constructed narrative. . . . Rather than creating a simple case of goodies and baddies, Maguire subtly examines the complexity of the human personality and what leads somebody to feel destructive. This hugely chilling and evocative story, mixing lyrical language and brutal events, is told with great psychological acuity." --Sydney Morning Herald

  • Short-listed for Miles Franklin Literary Award 2017
  • Short-listed for Stella Prize 2017
  • Short-listed for Ned Kelly Awards 2017
  • Short-listed for Australian Book Industry Awards 2107

ISBN: 9781785630835

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 24mm

Weight: 300g

320 pages