WINNER OF THE STORY PRIZE Winner of the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction
Nominated for the DUBLIN Literary Award
S hort-listed for the the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year, and the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction Named a Best Fiction Book of the Year by Minnesota Star Tribune and Kirkus
A New Yorker Recommended Read of the Year A gripping, enigmatic collection of linked short stories about the reverberations of a serial killer’s crimes in the lives of everyday people. In the small town of Barrow, Australia, people go about their ordinary lives. They drive to work through the dense state forest. They raise their families. They flirt and yearn. They lie and confess. Some of them leave home. Some of them return. Darkness thrums beneath the surface of these ordinary lives: the violence of one man, a serial killer whose murders made Barrow infamous. His twelve victims―women, men, mostly young―are long gone, but their deaths are felt, beyond the forest where they were buried, beyond this country, beyond even this time. In the past, where a young woman on a school trip to Rome sees something she shouldn’t have. In the present, where a man confronts an ancient grief on the suburban streets of Texas. In the future, in the hands of journalists and podcast hosts and television actors whose livelihoods hinge on the twin spectacles of loss and violence. Highway Thirteen is a luminous wonder: a book about the collisions between public and private selves, between parents and children, between history and what comes after, between the living and the dead. Fiona McFarlane’s roving vision is itself a story about stories―those we tell, retell, forget, sell, disprove, inherit, live through―and a work of extraordinary power and magic. “Fiona McFarlane’s mastery of form allow these interconnected stories to become a great glimmering work which upends time and expectation . . . Much of its power resides in McFarlane’s remarkable rendition of life’s mystery and ordinariness. Her evocation of the human capacity for cruelty and tenderness, even within the same moment, is at turns shattering and glorious.” ―Victorian Premier's Literary Awards judges' report “ Fiona McFarlane writes with psychological precision and a masterful sense of suspense . Each story is artfully constructed and the way they fit together, spanning seventy-eight years, is nothing short of dazzling . Fiona McFarlane’s book is a tour de force about the stories we tell, the surprising ways our lives connect, and the ripple effects of violence.” ―The Story Prize judges' citation “An accomplished collection, stylish and lyrical in its prose and deeply sensitive in its characterization . The stories are richly layered, often turning back on themselves or in unexpected directions, and McFarlane’s precision and craft are one of the great pleasures of the book .” ―Fiona Wright, The Guardian “ The pages turn themselves . . . McFarlane’s a startlingly gifted stylist and she makes the correct call, keeping Biga shadowy . . . Highway Thirteen is a Cubist collage of grief and suspense, grand betrayals and cryptic desires . It entertains even as it plunges headfirst into unspeakable evil.” ―Hamilton Cain, Minnesota Star Tribune “Reading Highway Thirteen is the literary equivalent of watching an eclipse: one must trace the shadow to see the spectacle . . . A masterclass in reflection and refraction. Fiona McFarlane is interested in what we choose to see and what we choose to ignore. It is easy to conjure up devils, demons and monsters―to spin blood-soaked tales of the murder forest. Far harder, she shows, is to face our own, ‘ordinary’ backyard cruelties.” ―Beejay Silcox, Times Literary Supplement “[ Highway Thirteen ] operates more like a collection of short stories with a shared thematic spine than a traditional novel, earning a distinct stylistic character of its own . . . Under McFarlane’s apt curation, they lend themselves to a bigger picture, allowing her to examine situations from a number of angles without ever infringing on their complexity . . . Disturbing, entrancing, heartfelt .” ―Ellie Dean, Readings “Twelve stories are artfully connected by one serial killer . . . As McFarlane weaves in and out of . . . daily lives and untangles their varying degrees of separation from Biga and the evil he embodies, she impressively captures a somewhat abstract feeling: the way something tragic that happened to a friend of a friend can haunt you. McFarlane’s dexterous writing offers sharp, evocative descriptors . . . With each passing page of each chapter, tension ramps up as the reader anticipates how each new character will wind up being related.” ―Naomi Elias, KQED “ McFarlane is a master at just about everything: dialogue, setting, comic timing . . . But her biggest accomplishment is creating an empathic bond with people whose lives are
Nominated for the DUBLIN Literary Award
S hort-listed for the the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year, and the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction Named a Best Fiction Book of the Year by Minnesota Star Tribune and Kirkus
A New Yorker Recommended Read of the Year A gripping, enigmatic collection of linked short stories about the reverberations of a serial killer’s crimes in the lives of everyday people. In the small town of Barrow, Australia, people go about their ordinary lives. They drive to work through the dense state forest. They raise their families. They flirt and yearn. They lie and confess. Some of them leave home. Some of them return. Darkness thrums beneath the surface of these ordinary lives: the violence of one man, a serial killer whose murders made Barrow infamous. His twelve victims―women, men, mostly young―are long gone, but their deaths are felt, beyond the forest where they were buried, beyond this country, beyond even this time. In the past, where a young woman on a school trip to Rome sees something she shouldn’t have. In the present, where a man confronts an ancient grief on the suburban streets of Texas. In the future, in the hands of journalists and podcast hosts and television actors whose livelihoods hinge on the twin spectacles of loss and violence. Highway Thirteen is a luminous wonder: a book about the collisions between public and private selves, between parents and children, between history and what comes after, between the living and the dead. Fiona McFarlane’s roving vision is itself a story about stories―those we tell, retell, forget, sell, disprove, inherit, live through―and a work of extraordinary power and magic. “Fiona McFarlane’s mastery of form allow these interconnected stories to become a great glimmering work which upends time and expectation . . . Much of its power resides in McFarlane’s remarkable rendition of life’s mystery and ordinariness. Her evocation of the human capacity for cruelty and tenderness, even within the same moment, is at turns shattering and glorious.” ―Victorian Premier's Literary Awards judges' report “ Fiona McFarlane writes with psychological precision and a masterful sense of suspense . Each story is artfully constructed and the way they fit together, spanning seventy-eight years, is nothing short of dazzling . Fiona McFarlane’s book is a tour de force about the stories we tell, the surprising ways our lives connect, and the ripple effects of violence.” ―The Story Prize judges' citation “An accomplished collection, stylish and lyrical in its prose and deeply sensitive in its characterization . The stories are richly layered, often turning back on themselves or in unexpected directions, and McFarlane’s precision and craft are one of the great pleasures of the book .” ―Fiona Wright, The Guardian “ The pages turn themselves . . . McFarlane’s a startlingly gifted stylist and she makes the correct call, keeping Biga shadowy . . . Highway Thirteen is a Cubist collage of grief and suspense, grand betrayals and cryptic desires . It entertains even as it plunges headfirst into unspeakable evil.” ―Hamilton Cain, Minnesota Star Tribune “Reading Highway Thirteen is the literary equivalent of watching an eclipse: one must trace the shadow to see the spectacle . . . A masterclass in reflection and refraction. Fiona McFarlane is interested in what we choose to see and what we choose to ignore. It is easy to conjure up devils, demons and monsters―to spin blood-soaked tales of the murder forest. Far harder, she shows, is to face our own, ‘ordinary’ backyard cruelties.” ―Beejay Silcox, Times Literary Supplement “[ Highway Thirteen ] operates more like a collection of short stories with a shared thematic spine than a traditional novel, earning a distinct stylistic character of its own . . . Under McFarlane’s apt curation, they lend themselves to a bigger picture, allowing her to examine situations from a number of angles without ever infringing on their complexity . . . Disturbing, entrancing, heartfelt .” ―Ellie Dean, Readings “Twelve stories are artfully connected by one serial killer . . . As McFarlane weaves in and out of . . . daily lives and untangles their varying degrees of separation from Biga and the evil he embodies, she impressively captures a somewhat abstract feeling: the way something tragic that happened to a friend of a friend can haunt you. McFarlane’s dexterous writing offers sharp, evocative descriptors . . . With each passing page of each chapter, tension ramps up as the reader anticipates how each new character will wind up being related.” ―Naomi Elias, KQED “ McFarlane is a master at just about everything: dialogue, setting, comic timing . . . But her biggest accomplishment is creating an empathic bond with people whose lives are