Shadows of Winter Robins

Sometimes you must shine a light on the dark places to see what was always there .

‘Nancy won’t be coming home.’

And there it is: that pip of a moment. That instant. That fraction of a second. That weightless stillness at the very top of a ball’s bounce, between its going up and falling down.

My brother and I held hands, suspended somewhere in between the life we’d led as Nancy’s children, and the one we were destined to live thereafter.

Winter Robins is a happy enough child, growing up in the north of England, with parents who love her and the constant companion of a twin brother, but a cold wind blows through when her mother dies. Her father turns to the bottle, her grandmother struggles to cope, and she and her brother are sent to live in Western Australia with family their mother had never mentioned.

Although Winter quickly settles in Australia and comes to love her life and the people in it, she notices strange happenings in the shadows of her new home. When a news story prompts her to look back at her past, she begins to wonder whether things were really as idyllic as she remembers them.

As she uncovers secret after secret, she realises a much darker narrative may have been – and perhaps still is – playing out …

PRAISE FOR AN AFTERLIFE FOR ROSEMARY LAMB:
‘This gripping tale of three women who are suspected in the disappearance of a 9-year-old is a powerful read you won’t want to put down.’ – Pedestrian.tv

‘An incredible debut full of rich characters and a plot that will keep you guessing. Louise Wolhuter is a writer to watch.’ – J.P. Pomare, author of In The Clearing and The Wrong Woman

‘A deeply evocative, hauntingly nostalgic and profoundly unsettling mystery.’ – Sulari Gentill, author of The Woman in The Library

‘Wolhuter’s distinctive voice and her beautiful prose had me immersed and lingering on every page.’ – Shankari Chandran, author of Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens

‘Wolhuter’s prose burns through the pages in this entertaining and sometimes dark combination of mystery and literary fiction’ – The Australian

‘It’s a finely wrought mystery notable for unusual depth of character – a slow burn with unexpected twists.’ – Sydney Morning Herald

‘a slow burn, but a compelling and complex one, steadily entangling the reader in the women’s lives. As the fires are stoked to a final conflagration, you won’t want to put it down.’ – The Canberra Times

‘Darkly addictive. Once An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb gets its teeth into you, there’s no escape.’ – Adrian Hyland, author of Canticle Creek

‘Charming, quirky and original. This beautifully written portrait of a small community of outliers keeps unfolding until the very end, revealing how little we ever really know about another person. Wolhuter is a real talent.’ – Inga Simpson, author of The Last Woman in the World and Willowman

‘The author’s care with her craft – this book is 25 years in the making – results in a magic alchemy of words that provides fresh and enchanting imagery. This novel is engrossing, mostly for the depth with which the characters are drawn and linger in our sentiments. It will be compared with books by writers such as Liane Moriarty – female friendships, small-town drama-mysteries, secret-filled pasts – and should not disappoint.’ – Books+Publishing

Format: Paperback
Pages: 352
Imprint: Ultimo Press AU
Publication date: 05/06/2024