Limberlost

‘Robbie Arnott is the sort of young writer we all hoped would emerge in Australia, a Conrad-like storyteller whose tales always tremble on the edge of the mythic and legendary. And as well as being a splendid narrator of tales, he has a quality too easily overlooked now. He writes beautifully! May his readers and his rewards abound!’

Thomas Keneally

‘Ned—with his shame and pride—blazes his way into your heart. A tender, soaring novel from one of Australia’s finest writers.’

Sisonke Msimang

‘Robbie Arnott’s best so far…Perfectly balanced, just exquisite.’

Rachel Edwards

‘Robbie Arnott is a tremendously talented and unique voice in Australian literature, and his third novel, Limberlost, exceeded all my expectations. It is a gorgeously written coming-of-age novel…a touching and profound depiction of connection, grief and familial love…Limberlost is much more grounded in realism than Arnott’s previous novels…but still holds the same sense of wonder.’

Readings

‘Limberlost is an immersive experience, a story that is deeply embedded in the language of its environment…Though Arnott has cast fabulism aside, [this novel] retains a mythic quality…Scaled right down to a single, humble life, Limberlost is lit up by the energy of that life’s relationships. It serves as a reminder of the complicated position humans occupy, tangled as we are in the webs of interdependence, of pain and responsibility and care, that bind us to a world much greater than ourselves.’

Jennifer Mills, Australian Book Review

‘This book is something special: tender, sad, exceptionally well written [and] unexpectedly moving.’

Ashleigh Wilson

‘It’s immersive, it’s emotional…A beautiful book…Glorious.’

Mel Bush, ABC Radio Hobart

‘Arnott’s style has tempered into something rich and singing…[His] writing of the natural world is elegiac and elemental…[Limberlost has] a breathtakingly moving final scene.’

Imogen Dewey, Guardian Australia

‘Such a beautiful book…It’s almost a Patrick White-ish evocation of the inner world…It’s one of those books that just rings and echoes. It creates such powerful emotional sense and such powerful visual sense…A magnificent piece of work.’

Jonathan Green, ABC RN Bookshelf

‘Simmers with a pastoral spirituality…[A] novel of considerable charm.’

Kill Your Darlings

‘The ambition of Limberlost and the complex questioning that underpins it are fascinating and lend the book a hauntedness that is deeply affecting. Ned’s sensitivity, his striving and his jumbled, tightly held emotions are always handled with great subtlety, and Arnott’s deep compassion for his characters and willingness to leave space for all that is unanswerable make Limberlost a striking book, with lingering resonance and great heart.’

Fiona Wright, Saturday Paper

‘Arnott’s writing has understated elegance and lilts to poetic rhythms. Its beauty hides an emotional punch made more powerful by its slow reveal…The writing is magnificent, and the characterisation of Ned is superb. A must-read novel.’

Good Reading

‘[Arnott’s] ability to write sublimely about nature has never been in doubt. But what characterises Limberlost as a triumph is how the author manages to illustrate the simple poignancy of human drama.’

Meanjin

‘Limberlost is frequently exquisite…Its writing is alert to the language and imagery of mythology, and attuned to the living world…Arnott writes beautiful sentences.’

Jen Webb, Conversation

‘Sentences sublime.’

Pip Williams

‘Singing prose…This coming-of-age story confirms Robbie Arnott as a masterly writer of eco-fiction.’

The Times (UK)

‘Arnott writes in a lyrical and evocative way, immersing readers in the abundant and untamed beauty of the Tasmanian wilderness…He masterfully captures the awe and wonder of the natural environment…Arnott is establishing himself as one of Australia’s best novelists; Limberlost is beautifully written and for fans of Richard Flanagan and Tim Winton.’

Coast Community News

‘Creatures loom wondrously in this lyrical novel…The animal kingdom around Ned bursts with language…Powerful…As the novel progresses Arnott ventures into more wistful territory…[He expertly] captures Ned’s autumn of life.’

Robert Collins, Sunday Times (UK)

‘Arnott’s third novel carries echoes of Ernest Hemingway’s masterpiece…It could be read as a sort of The Young Man and the Sea: a beautiful, pared-back exploration of masculinity, and the sustaining nature of dreams…Limberlost is a sensory rollercoaster. Arnott’s writing is unadorned, but thrillingly visceral…The joy of Limberlost, beyond the writing, is that, in Arnott’s rendering, nature is not always something to be wondered at, then subdued. The book is flecked with violence and rot, but there is much tenderness, too.’

Dani Garavelli, Big Issue (UK)