Southern Aurora

In the cutting, Jimmy listens for the train, as they can come quicker than expected. The Southern Aurora is the best train, going from Melbourne to Sydney and stopping in Mittigunda, halfway between. Jimmy is a kid growing up fast on the poorest street in town, trying to do everything right and look out for his mum and younger brother. However, small-town life is unforgiving, and even when he gets things right, everything can still go wrong. Samuel Johnson's Evocative and authentic, Brandi has created a world filled with equal parts hope and dread. Mark Brandi's Southern Aurora is a powerful and deeply moving portrayal of a sensitive, vulnerable boy battling against the odds for a happy life.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 28 June 2023
Publisher: Hachette Australia

We always keep an ear out for the train when we're in the cutting, as sometimes it arrives faster than anticipated. There aren't as many trains as there used to be. Mostly, it's just the freight ones, like the one that almost killed us on the bus. However, the Southern Aurora is the best train. It travels from Melbourne to Sydney and from Sydney to Melbourne. It stops in Mittigunda because we're pretty much exactly halfway between.

Jimmy is a young boy growing up quickly on the poorest street in town. He strives to do everything right and look out for his mother and his younger brother. His older brother is in jail, so it's up to Jimmy to hold things together. But small-town life is unforgiving if you're from the other side of the tracks.

If only his mother didn't drink so much. If only he could win the school billycart race. If only his best friend understood. If only he could stop his mother's boyfriend from getting angry. If only he was there.

Jimmy soon realizes that even when you get things right, everything can still go wrong.

If you only read one Australian fiction book this year, let it be this one. Samuel Johnson. Evocative and authentic, Brandi has created a world filled with equal parts hope and dread.

Southern Aurora is a special book. Sarah Bailey. Another quietly riveting, emotionally potent novel from Mark Brandi.

The Age. The master of small-town dread. Canberra Times. Heart-wrenching. The Australian Women's Weekly. Another page-turner. Who Weekly. Mark Brandi has delivered a protagonist that could well become one of Australia's classic characters. There's a Mark Twain innocence and inner wisdom to Jimmy, one far beyond most adults.

Weekend Australian. Brandi's poignant and deceptively uncomplicated tale pulses with wit and wisdom.

Weight: 356g
Dimension: 153 x 234 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780733649325