Exciting news, Jane Harper has just released a new novel, The Exiles, part of the Aaron Falk series.
Set in Australia her books give a visceral sense of what life can be like in a variety of Australian settings; in small country towns dependant on farming and at the mercy of climate extremes; in the bush; and by the ocean. She creates characters that feel familiar and as soon as you open the book you just must keep turning the pages.
If you haven’t read any books by Jane Harper this might be a good time to begin with her first book The Dry (or watch the movie).
The Aaron Falk series titles, in order, are:
Federal Agent Aaron Falk hasn't been back to the place where he grew up in twenty years. Not since he and his father were run out of town.
Five women reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking along the muddy track. Only four come out the other side.
At a busy festival site on a warm spring night, a baby lies alone in her stroller, her mother vanishing into the crowds.
Other titles by Jane:
Kieran Elliott's life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences.
Two brothers meet at the remote fence line separating their cattle ranches in the lonely outback.
Jane’s story
Jane Harper was born in Manchester in the UK and moved to Australia with her family at age eight.
She spent six years in Boronia, Victoria, and during that time gained Australian citizenship. Returning to the UK with her family as a teenager, she lived in Hampshire before studying English and History at the University of Kent in Canterbury. On graduating, she completed a journalism entry qualification and got her first reporting job as a trainee on the Darlington & Stockton Times in County Durham.
Jane worked for several years as a senior news journalist for the Hull Daily Mail, before moving back to Australia in 2008. She worked first on the Geelong Advertiser, and in 2011 took up a role with the Herald Sun in Melbourne. In 2014, Jane submitted a short story which was one of 12 chosen for the Big Issue's annual Fiction Edition. That inspired her to pursue creative writing more seriously, and that year she applied for the Curtis Brown Creative online 12-week novel writing course. She was accepted with a submission for the book that would become The Dry and wrote the first full draft during the three-month course.
If you have enjoyed Jane Harper’s books you might also like Chris Hammer who also captures Australian ways of life with deft and compelling accuracy or Garry Disher.