In 1928 Sydney, Australia, an Irish school girl finds new hope, after polio and personal tragedy, while playing cello in a string quartet.


'''… if there has been a more brilliant novel produced on this soil I haven't read it.' - Dr Susan Moore, The Catholic Weekly


'beautiful and poignant', 'graphic and colourful', 'a marvellous premiere' - Christine McCarthy


'The author's … love for and extensive knowledge of music, fine arts and literature shines through' ... 'The landscapes are vast and vivid, the seasons sensory and real, and the emotional journey heart-wrenching.' ... 'some of the most profound considerations on the meaning of suffering and understanding others, making allowances for their faults' - GoodReadingGuide.com

Back cover synopsis:

Australia promised a fresh start for Lucy Straughan and her father when they fled war-torn Ireland. Instead, Lucy was stricken by polio.

Having mastered the cello during her prolonged confinement, Lucy is now fifteen, lonely and full of questions. Suddenly she is thrust into a string quartet and meets quixotic Della Sotheby, hot-headed Pim Connolly and precocious Phoebe Raye. The experience transforms each of their lives as they forge friendships and share not a few family secrets.

Set against the vivid background of 1920s Sydney, A Distant Prospect is an intimate, hilarious and ultimately deeply moving coming-of-age adventure told with a touch of poetry by a quintessentially Irish narrator.