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Fire in the Head
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Brief Description
Fire in the Head addresses a deep taboo in Australian society—the legacy of child sexual abuse and what victims must endure to bring perpetrators to justice. Part crime drama, part coming-of-age tale, part modern psychological odyssey, Oakman's novel is a gripping, unsettling, and powerful story about...
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Fire in the Head
$4000
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Part crime drama, part coming-of-age tale, part modern psychological odyssey, Oakman’s novel is a gripping, unsettling and powerful story about self-discovery, the importance of friendship and the transcendent power of words.
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Description
Fire in the Head addresses a deep taboo in Australian society—the legacy of child sexual abuse and what victims must endure to bring perpetrators to justice.
Part crime drama, part coming-of-age tale, part modern psychological odyssey, Oakman's novel is a gripping, unsettling, and powerful story about self-discovery, the importance of friendship, and the transcendent power of words. Fire in the Head addresses a deep taboo in Australian society—the legacy of child sexual abuse and what victims must endure to bring perpetrators to justice.
In March 1999, twenty-seven-year-old James Harper, a shy public servant living in Canberra, is called to a police station to provide evidence on the suicide of his youngest sister nine years earlier. As the investigation gets underway, James confesses that he had been abused by his stepfather, Martin Jenkins, when he was a child. Could the two events be connected? But as he dives headfirst into the legal system in a quest for justice, James must face some disturbing truths about himself and the past he thought he had left behind.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781922779397
Publisher: Melbourne Books
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 04 March 2025
Country: Australia
Imprint: Melbourne Books
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 154.0mm
Height: 235.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 208
Collections
About the Author
Daniel Oakman, a writer and historian, comes from Melbourne. After a brief sojourn as a public servant in the mid-1990s, he completed his PhD at the Australian National University before a fifteen-year career as a senior curator at the National Museum of Australia. In 2005, his ground-breaking history of Australia and the Colombo Plan, Facing Asia (published by Pandanus Books), was shortlisted for the NSW History Awards. With Melbourne Books he has published Oppy (2018), an acclaimed biography of the sporting icon and politician Hubert Opperman, and Wild Ride (2020), an immersive exploration of how the bicycle has long shaped understandings of the Australian continent and its people. Daniel's other writing has appeared in diverse publications, including Mountain Biking Australia, VeloNews, Australian Historical Studies, The Big Issue and Meanjin. He lives in Canberra with his partner Cecilie and a dog called Gilbert. Fire in the Head is his first novel.
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