The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane

The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane
UK Publication: March 2023
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]

This ARC was provided by Hodder & Stoughton (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Don’t let the sun go down on me…

Synopsis from Goodreads: In September 1883, the South Australian town of Fairly huddles under strange, vivid sunsets. Six-year-old Denny Wallace has gone missing during a dust storm, and the whole town is intent on finding him. As they search the desert and mountains for the lost child, the residents of Fairly – newlyweds, landowners, farmers, mothers, artists, Indigenous trackers, cameleers, children, schoolteachers, widows, maids, policemen – explore their own relationships with the complex landscape unsettling history of the Flinders Ranges.

The colonial Australia of The Sun Walks Down is unfamiliar, multicultural, and noisy with opinions, arguments, longings and terrors. It’s haunted by many gods – the sun among them, rising and falling on each day that Denny could be found, or lost forever.

My Thoughts: This is a quiet understated book where the Australian outback in all its remote beauty is as much a character as the humans who exist within. Every character within the book is in a constant battle with the land for survival, The harsh conditions make it unlikely that anyone can survive for long on the land especially not a 6 year old boy, but families have built a life there, people have careers and the whole messy business of life continues despite the challenges.

The characters are really secondary to the all encompassing landscape but they all have something to contribute and serve to show the differences between those who have and those who have not and what it means in a world where the weather is absolute ruler of everything.

Who would like this? This is a character driven novel so I would recommend it to those who appreciate diving into the hearts and minds of others and who don’t need a lot of action to feel immersed in a story.

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