Inga Simpson – författare

Jack used to say that a good orchard was like a well-lived life. The one up at the old farm, with its hundred-year-old pears leaning over the entrance gates, held more Wigg history than anything written down.It''s the summer of 1971, not far from the stone-fruit capital of New South Wales, where Mr Wigg lives on what''s left of the family farm. He spends his time working in the orchard, cooking and preserving his produce and, when it''s on, watching the cricket. It''s a full life.Things are changing though, with Australia and England playing a one-day match, and his new neighbours planting grapes for wine. His wife died a few years ago, his daughter never visits, and his son thinks he should move into town. But Mr Wigg has trees and chickens to look after on the farm. His grandchildren visit often: to cook, eat and hear stories. And he has a project to finish...

''All in?'' Kieran pulled me up, and the others followed. We gathered around the bigger tree. No one asked Matty - he just reached up and put his right hand on the trunk with ours. Kieran cleared his throat. ''We swear, on these trees, to always be friends. To protect each other - and this place.''When Jay and her four childhood friends find a group of ancient trees carved by an Aboriginal tribe to identify sacred land, their eyes are opened to an older world. The tightly-knit group are at their most free on the river that runs through the farm, near the trees, and their childhood has a magical quality as they grow always closer, protected from the adult world. But as tension over land rights flickers in the grown-ups'' lives, the children''s attempt to protect the grove ends in disaster. Seventeen years later, Jay finally has her chance to make amends. Not every wrong can be put right, but sometimes looking the other way is no longer an option. But at what cost?Praise for Nest''(a) truly rich novel'' Sydney Morning Herald ''a thoroughly enjoyable, uplifting read'' MindfoodPraise for Mr Wigg''beautiful and absorbing'' Sydney Morning Herald ''Simpson is a beautiful writer'' Big Issue

Once an artist and teacher, Jen now spends her time watching the birds around her house and tending her lush sub-tropical garden near the small town where she grew up. The only person she sees regularly is Henry, who comes after school for drawing lessons.When a girl in Henry''s class goes missing, Jen is pulled back into the depths of her own past. When she was Henry''s age she lost her father and her best friend Michael - both within a week. The whole town talked about it then, and now, nearly forty years later, they''re talking about it again. Everyone is waiting - for the girl to be found and the summer rain to arrive. At last, when the answers do come, like the wet, it is in a drenching, revitalising downpour...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKPEOPLE ADULT FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023SHORTLISTED FOR THE ACT NOTABLE BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2023''Willowman may well be the perfect Australian novel'' Readings''Beguiling and entertaining'' PETER LALOR, Weekend Australian''A sweet strike that goes beyond the boundary'' The Age''Joyous storytelling at its best. I was enthralled'' SARAH WINMAN, author of Still Life ''I bloody loved this - a gorgeous, heartbreaking examination of so much more than cricket'' ROBBIE ARNOTT, author of Limberlost Allan Reader, one of the last traditional batmakers in the country, keeps his family business alive in a small workshop in Melbourne. When Todd Harrow, a gifted young batter, catches Allan''s eye, a spark is lit and Allan decides to make a Reader bat for him, selecting the best piece of willow he''s harvested in years to do so. As Harrow charts a meteoric rise to the highest echelons of the sport, Allan''s bat takes centre stage as well, awakening something in him. But can Allan''s fledgling renaissance - hanging as it does on the magic of that bat - carry on after Harrow is stricken by injury and a strained personal life? ''A six all the way: Willowman is a novel off the middle of the bat'' Sydney Morning Herald''These charismatic characters rise memorable from the page, stroke by inspired stroke, ball by crafty ball, living vividly through cricket history'' Courier Mail''A book for the summer, one to throw in the kitbag to read during rain delays, or between overs in the stands, to read even if you''re not a fan of the game'' Canberra Times ''Not since Jasper Jones have I been so utterly spellbound by the next ball, the state of the pitch and the intricacies of scoring'' KATE MILDENHALL ''A love story to cricket, to families, to craft and to music. Beautifully written'' MICHAEL BRISSENDEN ''Inga Simpson brings all her craft and sensitivity to a story that has never been told, and now that she has done it, it feels like this was a story that was needing to be told'' MALCOLM KNOX

''a controlled and literate work that earns its emotional peaks'' - Saturday Paper''a delight'' - The AustralianA memoir about staying in one place, told through trees, by the award-winning author of MR WIGG, NEST and WHERE THE TREES WERE."The understorey is where I live, alongside these plants and creatures. I tend the forest, stand at the foot of trees and look up, gather what has fallen."This is the story of a tree-change, of escaping suburban Brisbane for a cottage on ten acres in search of a quiet life. Of establishing a writers retreat shortly before the Global Financial Crisis hit, and of losing just about everything when it did. It is also the story of what the author found there: the beauty of nature and her own path as a writer. Understory is a memoir about staying in one place, told through trees, by the award-winning author of MR WIGG, NEST and WHERE THE TREES WERE.''Something powerful ... takes hold of the reader and transports [you] to the forest floor in a kind of awe'' - Sydney Morning Herald''I love the way the reader gets lost in the trees and then lost in Inga''s life and then lost in the trees again. Understory feels so rich and nourishing, as if the restorative power of the Australian bush is transmitted through her words.'' - Richard Glover, bestselling author and radio presenter''a fine addition to the genre of Australian nature writing'' Books + Publishing**Includes an extract from Simpson''s next transporting novel, The Last Woman in the World**

Trees tell stories about places. Australia has some of the tallest, oldest, fattest and most unusual trees in the world. They have changed over thousands of years, adapting to this continent''s deserts, mountains, and coasts. Many have found clever ways of dealing with drought and fire. Their leaves, flowers and seeds are food for birds, insects and mammals. Old trees have lots of hollows, which make good homes for possums, sugar gliders, birds and bees. But trees aren''t just important for other animals, we need them too. What trees breathe out, we breathe in. They are a vital part of the Earth''s ecosystems.When you first stand in a forest, the trees all seem the same. But if you look more closely, they are each a little different, like people. This book is a love song to Australian trees, from the red ironbark to the grey gum, the Moreton Bay fig to the Queensland bottle tree.The first book for children from one of Australia''s most beloved authors.

Award-winning novelist and nature writer Inga Simpson terrifies and enthralls with this truly remarkable novel of a woman who must face her worst fears to survive and find beauty in a world under attack.Fear is her cage. But what''s outside is worse...It''s night, and the walls of Rachel''s home creak in the darkness of the Australian bush. Her fear of other people has led her to a reclusive life as far from them as possible, her only occasional contact with her sister. A hammering on the door. There stand a mother, Hannah, and her sick baby. They are running for their lives from a mysterious death sweeping the Australian countryside - so soon, too soon, after everything.Now Rachel must face her worst fears to help Hannah, search for her sister, and discover just what terror was born of us. . . and how to survive it.For fans of BIRDBOX and A QUIET PLACE, this remarkable, terrifying literary horror thriller holds a mirror up to the changed world we live in today.

''Storytelling at its best. I was enthralled'' Sarah Winman(on Inga Simpson''s Willowman)''We haven''t always lived like this . . .''Fin grew up by an observatory, learning about telescopes and planets, inspired by the passions of her parents, then leaders in their fields of astrophotography and astronomy. Those days are long over. Now Fin, her mother, Dianella, and a band of outliers live deep off the grid, always on amber alert and always ready to run.In the outside world, things are not good: extinctions and a loss of diversity threaten what''s left of the environment. With a new disaster looming, Fin finds herself thrust into an unlikely partnership with a stranger who has appeared in their camp - one of a new breed of evolved humans, the Incompletes, who are widely distrusted. But the pair will need to work together during a dangerous journey if they are to play their part in an audacious plan to help restore the natural world - and humankind.The Thinning is both an exquisitely written novel of nature and urgent thriller by the bestselling and acclaimed author of Willowman and The Last Woman in the World.