Jock Serong

Preservation, based on the true story of the wreck of the Sydney Cove, sees master storyteller Jock Serong turn his talents to historical narrative.

Preservation

• A new format of this cracking literary thriller with a stunning new cover • On the Java Ridge sold 8k in original formats • Shortlisted for the 2018 Indie Awards • Jock's first novel Quota won the Ned Kelly First Novel Award; His second novel, The Rules of Backyard Cricket was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award and is nominated for the prestigious US Edgar Prize (2018) • In this widely praised novel, Serong tells the gripping story of a group of Australian surfers on a luxury charter boat who witness the sinking of a boatload of refugees off the coast of Indonesia • `You might want to clear the decks before you start Jock Serong's third thriller, because the odds are you won't be able to put it down.' Adelaide Advertiser • Just in time for Father's Day • Jock Serong lives in Port Fairy, Victoria

On the Java Ridge

It starts in a suburban backyard with Darren Keefe and his older brother, sons of a fierce and gutsy single mother. The endless glow of summer, the bottomless fury of contest. All the love and hatred in two small bodies poured into the rules of a made-up game. Darren has two big talents: cricket and trouble. No surprise that he becomes an Australian sporting star of the bad-boy variety—one of those men who’s always got away with things and just keeps getting. Until the day we meet him, middle aged, in the boot of a car. Gagged, cable-tied, a bullet in his knee. Everything pointing towards a shallow grave. The Rules of Backyard Cricket is a novel of suspense in the tradition of Peter Temple’s Truth. With glorious writing harnessed to a gripping narrative, it observes celebrity, masculinity—humanity—with clear-eyed lyricism and exhilarating narrative drive.

The Rules of Backyard Cricket

HIS HONOUR: Mr Jardim, withdraw that comment immediately. MR JARDIM: Your Honour, I'm not withdrawing it because it's got nothing to do with the merits of this case, just as your small-minded treatment of my client has got nothing to do with the merits of the case. I mean, could you have cocked this thing up any worse? Bloody helpless kid and you know she's back out on the street now. You're known throughout the state as a heartless old prick and a drunk, and seeing I've gone this far, your daughter-in-law's appointment to the court is widely viewed as a grubby political payoff. Today's pretty much the lowest I've seen you stoop but it's been a rich field of excrem— HIS HONOUR: Senior, will you have Mr Jardim removed? Charlie Jardim has just trashed his legal career in a spectacular courtroom meltdown, and his girlfriend has finally left him. So when a charitable colleague slings him a prosecution brief that will take him to the remote coastal town of Dauphin, Charlie reluctantly agrees that the sea air might be good for him. The case is a murder. The victim was involved in the illegal abalone trade and the even more illegal drug trade. and the witnesses aren't talking. And as Dauphin closes ranks around him, Charlie is about to find his interest in the law powerfully reignited.

Quota

From multi-award-winning author Jock Serong comes Cherrywood, an imaginative, darkly playful and deeply meaningful delight, a novel about legacy, community, wonder, love and reinvention. Shortlisted Indie Book Awards for Fiction 2025 Shortlisted ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2025 'One rainy Friday evening in the winter of 1993, a taxi swept through the streets of East Melbourne, on its way from the city to Richmond. That year was one of the few remaining when a great deal was known of the world but not yet so much that the world had become over-known. Small gaps remained ...' Edinburgh, 1916: A rich Scottish industrialist, Thomas Wrenfether, impulsively embarks on a mad scheme to build a paddlesteamer out of dubiously sourced European cherrywood on the other side of the world, in booming Melbourne, Australia. But nothing goes according to plan. Melbourne, 1993: Martha is a clever, lonely and frustrated lawyer. One night, on impulse, she stops at a strange pub in Fitzroy, The Cherrywood, for a bottle of wine. The mysterious building and its inhabitants make an indelible impression, and she slowly begins to deduce odd truths about the pub. From multi-award-winning author Jock Serong comes a darkly delicious, playful and rich novel about legacy, community, wonder, love and reinvention - Cherrywood is haunting, magical and a true original. PRAISE FOR CHERRYWOOD 'Between the familiar and the magical comes a novel of romantic vision ... Rarely is historical fiction this fraught and alive' Sydney Morning Herald 'Complex yet inviting ... Intricately plotted, spanning time and space, Cherrywood brings to mind the scope of Richard Powers's The Overstory and David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, with strong homage to the works of Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges.' Books+Publishing 'A beguiling story of dreamers and schemers and work ... There's a touch of magic realism here, as well as a deep interest in both characters and history, in cities and storytelling, in architecture and trees ... [and] a certain sweet sadness underlying it all.' ABC 'Intriguing, mysterious, a little gothic ... a unique tale set against the backdrop of Melbourne. A brilliant read' Radio New Zealand 'One of the most compelling and wonderfully bonkers novels of the year' Readings 'A wildly imaginative, intricately woven tale of beauty, love and loss. Serong is an exceptionally gifted writer, and Cherrywood is his best book yet' Mark Brandi 'Beneath its captivating intricacy lies an exploration of grief, love and the haunting proximity of the past ... A work of exuberance, rare charm and, above all, heart' Lucy Treloar Sublime and haunting' Toni Jordan 'As magical as it is mesmerising. Every chapter presents the reader with another storytelling treasure more narratively wondrous than the last. Serong's wild imagination is a gift that keeps on giving.' Trent Dalton 'What an adventure. This beautiful novel of ambition and grief has me feeling ghosts at every step' Tim Rogers

Cherrywood: Shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2025, an Imaginative and Moving Literary Novel from an Award Winning Author, for Readers of Trent Dalton, Robbie Arnott and Daniel Mason

Cherrywood (lp).

From multi-award-winning author Jock Serong comes Cherrywood, an imaginative, darkly playful and deeply meaningful delight, a novel about legacy, community, wonder, love and reinvention. Shortlist Indie Book Awards for Fiction 2025 Shortlist ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2025 'One rainy Friday evening in the winter of 1993, a taxi swept through the streets of East Melbourne, on its way from the city to Richmond. That year was one of the few remaining when a great deal was known of the world but not yet so much that the world had become over-known. Small gaps remained ...' Edinburgh, 1916: A rich Scottish industrialist, Thomas Wrenfether, impulsively embarks on a mad scheme to build a paddlesteamer out of dubiously sourced European cherrywood on the other side of the world, in booming Melbourne, Australia. But nothing goes according to plan. Melbourne, 1993: Martha is a clever, lonely and frustrated lawyer. One night, on impulse, she stops at a strange pub in Fitzroy, The Cherrywood, for a bottle of wine. The mysterious building and its inhabitants make an indelible impression, and she slowly begins to deduce odd truths about the pub. From multi-award-winning author Jock Serong comes a darkly delicious, playful and rich novel about legacy, community, wonder, love and reinvention - Cherrywood is haunting, magical and a true original. 'Between the familiar and the magical comes a novel of romantic vision ... Rarely is historical fiction this fraught and alive' Sydney Morning Herald 'Complex yet inviting ... Intricately plotted, spanning time and space, Cherrywood brings to mind the scope of Richard Powers's The Overstory and David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, with strong homage to the works of Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges.' Books+Publishing 'A beguiling story of dreamers and schemers and work ... There's a touch of magic realism here, as well as a deep interest in both characters and history, in cities and storytelling, in architecture and trees ... [and] a certain sweet sadness underlying it all.' ABC 'Intriguing, mysterious, a little gothic ... a unique tale set against the backdrop of Melbourne. A brilliant read' Radio New Zealand 'One of the most compelling and wonderfully bonkers novels of the year' Readings 'A wildly imaginative, intricately woven tale of beauty, love and loss. Serong is an exceptionally gifted writer, and Cherrywood is his best book yet' Mark Brandi 'Beneath its captivating intricacy lies an exploration of grief, love and the haunting proximity of the past ... A work of exuberance, rare charm and, above all, heart' Lucy Treloar Sublime and haunting' Toni Jordan 'As magical as it is mesmerising. Every chapter presents the reader with another storytelling treasure more narratively wondrous than the last. Serong's wild imagination is a gift that keeps on giving.' Trent Dalton 'What an adventure. This beautiful novel of ambition and grief has me feeling ghosts at every step' Tim Rogers

Cherrywood: The imaginative and moving new literary novel from an award winning author, for readers of Trent Dalton, shortlisted for the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2025

Great Ocean Quarterly, Vol.2, No.3

A career-defining masterpiece by internationally award-winning Australian storyteller Jock Serong

The Settlement

Charlie Jardim has just trashed his legal career in a spectacular courtroom meltdown, and his girlfriend has finally left him. So when a charitable colleague slings him a prosecution brief that will take him to the remote coastal town of Dauphin, Charlie reluctantly agrees that the sea air might be good for him. The case is a murder. The victim was involved in the illegal abalone trade and the even more illegal drug trade. And the witnesses aren't talking. And as Dauphin closes ranks around him, Charlie is about to find his interest in the law powerfully reignited. Jock Serong’s first novel, Quota, won the 2015 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction. The Rules of Backyard Cricket was shortlisted for the 2017 Victorian Premier’s Award for Fiction, and was a finalist in the 2017 Mystery Writers of America Edgar Awards and the 2017 Indie Book Awards. On the Java Ridge won the Colin Roderick Award and the international Staunch Book Prize in 2018. Jock lives with his family on Victoria’s far west coast. ‘Pitch-perfect dialogue, and a strong sense of place...A very engaging, and extremely realistic debut novel.’ Reviewing the Evidence ‘This gritty debut maintains the pace and suspense.’ Qantas The Australian Way ‘A very entertaining read. What we look for in fiction is a story that resonates somewhere in our memory/imagination, characters that are enthralling...and settings, in time and space, that are authentic...Jock can tick the boxes.’ Queenscliffe Herald ‘These characters are full of life.’ NZ Listener ‘You will revel in this great thriller. Jock Serong with his background s lawyer and a local living along the Surf Coast, effortlessly gives his novel a ring of authenticity. You will quickly become engrossed in this great crime thriller with its dark underbelly of secrets and divided loyalties.’ Surf Coast Times ‘Serong’s prose is evocative, his dialogue convincing, and the atmosphere of small-town life pungently suggested.’ Canberra Times ‘A gripping work of literary suspense that blends tense courtroom drama with tight-lipped witnesses and brooding small-town strangeness...It’s a well-placed, atmospheric tale that manages to be page-turning as well as poignant; whether you’re a crime fan or not, it’s worth a read.’ Kill Your Darlings ‘Rich with nuanced observation of people in pressured situations and the theatrics of those who understand courtroom rules and customs...Serong’s human instinct flourishes.’ Swellnet ‘Jock Serong writes with a surfer’s love of the water. The cold, the pulse and the power loom over this book...There will no doubt be more Charlie Jardim novels.’ Law Institute Journal ‘This debut novel by former lawyer Jock Serong is a very credible entry into the world of Australian crime, with its shades of Jack Irish and a hint of Rake...Jock Serong’s familiarity with the people and social structures of small country communities enables him to forensically profile the characters who inhabit his novel and detail their often complex and sometimes contradictory relationships...His sea and landscape portraits are beautifully depicted. Bring on the next brief for Jardim of Counsel.’ Good Reading ‘This book is a ripper...The writing is beautiful. There is tension, rhythm, beauty and ugliness in here. This would make a great movie with its strong characters and narrative arc but then we’d miss the lyricism of the wriitng. Do read this one.’ Geelong Advertiser

Mark Smith

Various

Neil A. White

For many of us, lyrics from Paul Kelly help tell the stories of our lives. From Jock Serong on the fastest Ford in Western Australia to Lorin Clarke on the death of her revered dad-comedian John Clark-and from Gina Williams on the 'special treatment' of the people of the Noongar nation to Bram Presser on the ghosts that inhabit St Kilda, twenty-one writers enter the Paul Kelly songbook and let their minds go walking.

Paul Kelly's Songs Reimagined

Minds Went Walking

A historic seafaring adventure with a father-daughter twist, from beloved Australian storyteller Jock Serong, in an appealing new format

The Burning Island

A father’s obsession, a daughter's quest

Jock Serong

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