Rhubarb

Rhubarbis the first novel from a young writer with an astonishing talent. With his sublime and playful use of language and his uncanny ability to reveal the human condition in all its vulnerability and fragility, Craig Silvey has created an extraordinary contemporary Australian story. It is a poignant and tender sort-of-love story about two damaged people tenuously connecting. Eleanor is blind and lives with her reclusive mother. Ewan is a cello player with agoraphobia. She is drawn to him through his music but cannot understand the difficulty he faces in forming a friendship. He does not understand her past nor the impact his music has on her. Amidst the heat of a Fremantle summer they stumble towards each other. Sad, funny and affecting, and peopled with characters that live and breathe, Rhubarb is simply a wonderful novel.