The Sun Walks Down set in Australia – Fiona McFarlane
This novel transports you to the the Willochra Plain in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Here is land covered with sheep farms. cattle stations and not much else. Only a few people live here. In 188s, a boy goes missing in Undelcarra, a small town and home to the Wallace family.
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Boarding Pass Information: Australia
Author guide: Fiona McFarlane
Genre: literary fiction
Food and drink to accompany: beef on the barbie
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A novel to transport you to the dustlands of Australia
BookTrail Travel to The Sun Walks Down
This was a slow burn but gripping read about a missing boy. I met Matthew, Mary and their family of six. They all work on the land and employ an Aboriginal man by the name of Billy Rough. Onc day, the young son, Danny Wallace who is six, becomes lost in a dust storm whilst collecting twigs.
First of all, the cover is amazing. That orange! The golden circles. All of this represents the wonderous sunsets described in the novel. Keep the colours in your mind as you read.
I was surprised we got to follow Danny as he is lost. He tries to remember what he’s been told if he gets lost. He gets confused and worries when he hears someone calling his name that someone is out to get him, hunt him.
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The very important sheep sheering season is about to begin so all the men in the town are busy. Those who might be able to track and find the young boy have to deal with their sheep. The family go out instead with the help of their children. One finds a hankerchief with blood on it and then Denny’s boots. Things don’t look good.
When the boy goes missing, it was interesting to see how everyone reacted to that. The local farmhands and Aboriginal staff seemed to be more caring and concerned that the locals. It was interesting to see how the race, gender and class differences were all examined under the spotlight of the missing boy. This was a complex journey to try and find a missing boy but a good one. The journey, was perhaps more than the destination as it was clear to see the picture of Australian society that came out of this.
I was keen to find out why the book was called The Sun Walks Down. Well, there’s a Swedish artist in the novel who has a significant role in the book. That phrase is particular to him and once you have read the book, it all becomes poignant.
A complex tapestry of a story well told.
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