100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ

New on the blog! ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japanese Healing Fiction & โ˜• The Perfect Winter Reads

The Piper's Son

4.06 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 11,686 ratings, 1,489 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta follows Tom Mackee, a young man dealing with personal and familial turmoil following a tragic loss. Caught between grief and the need for redemption, Tom attempts to rebuild his life and reconnect with his estranged family and friends. This touching story explores themes of love, forgiveness, and the complexities of relationships.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2200
Elsewhere:
$2400
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy engaging contemporary stories that delve into themes of family, loss, and redemption. The narrative provides an emotional journey through a young adult's struggle to reconnect with loved ones and find a path forward after facing personal and familial challenges. Fans of character-driven plots with heartfelt moments will likely find this an absorbing read.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Melina Marchetta's brilliant, heart-wrenching novel The Piper's Son continues the story of the group from Saving Francesca - only it's five years later and this time Thomas Mackee is the one who needs saving.

Thomas Mackee wants oblivion. He wants to forget fathers who leave, parents splitting up, friends he used to care about, a string of one-night stands, and favourite uncles being blown to smithereens on their way to work on the other side of the world.

When his flatmates turn him out of the house, Tom moves in with his single, pregnant aunt, Georgie. He starts working at The Union pub with his former friends, Francesca and Justine, and winds up living with his grieving alcoholic father again.

In a year where everything's broken, Tom realises that his family and friends need him to help put the pieces back together as much as he needs them.

The Piper's Son has been longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, and shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award, the NSW Premier's Literary Award, and the Queensland Premier's Literary Award.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta has been praised for its emotional depth, capturing the painful yet ultimately hopeful journey of its characters. Reviews highlight the book's warmth, humour, and the authenticity of its protagonist, Tom, as he navigates the complexities of family and personal grief. The narrative's strength lies in its ability to portray flawed, realistic characters and depict their growth, making it both memorable and engaging for readers.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780143203421

Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 January 2016

Country: Australia

Imprint: Penguin Random House Australia

Audience: Teenage

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 21.0mm

Width: 131.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 236g

Pages: 336

About the Author

Melina Marchetta is one of Australia's most successful writers of young-adult fiction and is a best-selling and critically acclaimed author in more than twenty countries and in eighteen languages. In 2009 Marchetta won the prestigious Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association for On the Jellicoe Road, and Melina's screenplay for this book is currently set to be made into a major film with an international cast to be directed by Looking for Alibrandi director Kate Woods. Melina has written for ABC-TV's Dance Academy. Finnikin of the Rock, Book One of the Lumatere Chronicles,was first published in Australia in 2008, followed in 2010 by the companion novel to her award-winning book Saving Francesca, The Piper's Son, long-listed for the Miles Franklin Award and short-listed for many other literary awards in Australia and internationally. Melina is also the author of The Gorgon in the Gully, which takes up the story of On the Jellicoe Road's Jonah Griggs's family, and stars his younger brother Danny in this story for younger readers. Book Two in the Lumatere Chronicles, Froi of the Exiles, was published in 2011, and Book Three, Quintana of Charyn, was published in 2012. 2012 also marked the twenty-year anniversary of Melina Marchetta's first novel Looking for Alibrandi, the much-loved Australian classic, which was made into a major motion picture and has sold more than half a million copies in Australia.

Also by Melina Marchetta

View all
  • Saving Francesca
    Francesca is at the beginning of her second term in Year Eleven at an all-boy's school that has just started accepting girls. She still misses her old friends, and, to make things worse, her mother has had a breakdown and can barely move from her bed. But Francesca had not counted on the fierce loyalty of her new friends, or...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • On the Jellicoe Road
    Taylor Markham is not a popular choice. She is erratic, has no people skills, and never turns up to meetings. Not to mention the incident when she ran off in search of her mother and only got halfway there. But she's lived at Jellicoe School most of her life, and as leader of the boarders, that's her greatest asset. Especially...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Place on Dalhousie
    From the bestselling author of Looking for Alibrandi comes this perfectly crafted novel about families, relationships, and the true nature of belonging. 'You look the type to break your father's heart.' 'Yeah, but he broke mine first.' When Rosie Gennaro first meets Jimmy Hailler, she has walked away from life in Sydney, leaving behind the place on Dalhousie that her...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Looking for Alibrandi
    Melina Marchetta's stunning debut novel, Looking for Alibrandi, is one girl's story of her final year at school, a year she sets herself free. Josephine Alibrandi is seventeen and in her final year at a wealthy girls' school. This is the year she meets her father, the year she falls in love, the year she searches for Alibrandi and finds...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • What Zola Did on Friday
    From the author of Looking for Alibrandi comes this gorgeous series to engage and entertain newly independent young readers. A wonderful children's series celebrating community, friendship and kindness from the bestselling author of Looking for Alibrandi. Fun, heartwarming stories full of mischief and humour, sure to charm and engage newly independent young readers. Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • What Zola Did on Monday
    From the author of Looking for Alibrandi comes this gorgeous series to engage and entertain newly independent young readers. Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with her mum and her nonna. Every day of the week is an adventure. But Zola has a problem. No matter how much she tries, she can't keep out of trouble! Seven stories in the...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • What Zola Did on Saturday
    From the author of Looking for Alibrandi comes this gorgeous series to engage and entertain newly independent young readers. A wonderful children's series celebrating community, friendship and kindness from the bestselling author of Looking for Alibrandi. Fun, heartwarming stories full of mischief and humour, sure to charm and engage newly independent young readers. Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • What Zola Did on Thursday
    From the author of Looking for Alibrandi comes this gorgeous series to engage and entertain newly independent young readers. A wonderful children's series celebrating community, sustainability, diversity and family from the bestselling author of Looking for Alibrandi. Fun, heartwarming stories full of mischief, humour and feeling, sure to charm and engage newly independent young readers. Zola loves living on Boomerang...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • What Zola Did on Sunday
    From the author of Looking for Alibrandi comes this gorgeous series to engage and entertain newly independent young readers. A wonderful children's series celebrating community, friendship and kindness from the bestselling author of Looking for Alibrandi. Fun, heartwarming stories full of mischief and humour, sure to charm and engage newly independent young readers. Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • What Zola Did on Tuesday
    From the author of Looking for Alibrandi comes this gorgeous series to engage and entertain newly independent young readers. Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with her mum and her nonna. Every day of the week is an adventure. But Zola has a problem. No matter how much she tries, she can't keep out of trouble! Like on Tuesday, when...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • What Zola Did on Wednesday
    From the author of Looking for Alibrandi comes this gorgeous series to engage and entertain newly independent young readers. Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with her mum and her nonna. Every day of the week is an adventure. But Zola has a problem. No matter how much she tries, she can't keep out of trouble! Like on Wednesday, when...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Zola and the Christmas Lights
    Celebrate community, kindness, hope and all the wonder of the festive season in a heartwarming Christmas picture book from the bestselling author of Looking for Alibrandi Melina Marchetta and joyous illustrator Deb Hudson. Celebrate the wonder of Christmas in this heartwarming picture book from the bestselling and award-winning author of Looking for Alibrandi, Melina Marchetta, together with talented and joyous...
    Hardback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from Young Adult

View all
  • New Release
    Song of the Saltings
    On the isolated island of Brack, the people live by an ancient bargain: every year, a sacrifice must be made to the Glimm, the creature that haunts the salt marshes. Eight years ago, it should have taken Lotta. Instead, the monster spared her and claimed her pony, shattering tradition and anointing her both folk hero and object of suspicion. Now...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    17% off
    New Release
    Tell Me with Kisses
    From New York Times bestselling author and Wattpad sensation Mercedes Ron comes the English translation of the third in the Tell Me series, where Kamila Hamilton is caught between the two Di Bianco brothers after they burst back into her life. From New York Times bestselling author and Wattpad sensation Mercedes Ron comes the English translation of the third in...
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    18% off
    Release Me
    The searing second volume in a new series set in the #1 global bestselling Shatter Me universe ten years after the fall of The Reestablishment. Rosabelle Wolff had a plan. Now she wants revenge. To save her sister she needs to get back home and destroy the system that created her. Rosabelleโ€™s greatest strength is her ability to deaden her...
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • A Language of Dragons
    The most exciting debut of 2025 โ€“ an incredible fantasy Dark Academia, perfect for fans of Babel, Fourth Wing, and the Scholomance trilogy. EVERY FIRE STARTS WITH A SINGLE SPARK. Welcome to Bletchley Parkโ€ฆ with dragons. London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isnโ€™t worried. Sheโ€™s going to follow the rules,...
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Shatter Me: Shatter Me series 1
    Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is a gripping dystopian novel that plunges readers into a world where society is on the brink of collapse. At the heart of this chaos is Juliette, a 17-year-old girl with a fatal touchโ€”literally. For 264 days, Juliette has been imprisoned in solitary confinement, her only crime being an accidental touch that resulted in death....
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    12% off
    Cozy Corner
    Relax and unwind with this adorable colouring book โ€“ itโ€™s time to get cozy! Step into a world of calm and comfort with Cozy Corner, featuring 45 beautiful hand-drawn pages ready for you to colour in. Settle into your very own cozy corner with these brand new colouring pages! This follow-up to Coco Wyo's beloved Little Corner promises a new...
    Paperback
    $1500
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Bunny vs Monkey: The Great Big Glitch (a Phoenix Comic Book): the instant number one bestselling book from Jamie Smart, Illustrator of the Year
    When Bunny, Monkey and friends discover a glitch in reality, life gets even crazier than normal: Bunny declares himself The Woods' Magical Protector, Pig becomes a superspy, plus there's complete metal Monkey mayhem! Experience the laughs and chaos in Bunny vs Monkey: The Great Big Glitch (a Phoenix Comic Book), the instant number one bestselling book from Jamie Smart, Illustrator...
    Paperback
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    17% off
    The Summer I Turned Pretty
    The Summer I Turned Pretty is now a major new TV series on Amazon Prime! If you loved The Kissing Booth and Jenny Han's smash-hit Netflix movie series To All the Boys I Loved Before, then you'll adore this gorgeously funny, romantic story! Everything that happened this past summer, and every summer before it, has all led up to this....
    Paperback
    $2000
    Usually:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
    A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson is the New York Times No.1 bestselling YA crime thriller that has captivated readers globally. Now adapted into a major BBC series, this intricately plotted and intensely gripping novel is being lauded as a modern classic in young adult literature. Pippa Fitz-Amobi, an intelligent and determined high school student, is looking...
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Powerless
    OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD! THE INSTANT NO. 1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON. โ€˜Nothing short of epicโ€™ - Rosie Talbot, bestselling author of Sixteen Souls โ€˜A thrilling fantasy with the most delicious slow-burn romanceโ€™ - M.A. Kuzniar, bestselling author of Midnight in Everwood โ€˜[A] titillating debutโ€™ - Publishers Weekly โ€˜A masterpieceโ€™ - Goodreads Reader Review โ€˜Everyone needs to read itโ€™ -...
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2899
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Free Gift
    The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks
    Louise Rennison for the Dork Diaries generation - hilarious, relatable and full of heart. The first book in the hilarious new series for children by the bestselling creator of Hurrah For Gin. The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks follows Lottie Brooks, who is 11 and feels like her life is already officially over. Not only is she about to...
    Paperback
    $1799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Free Gift
    Lottie Brooks's Totally Disastrous School-Trip
    The fourth book in this hilarious bestselling series full of friendship, family, and first experiences from the creator of Hurrah for Gin. Lottie Brooks's Totally Disastrous School-Trip continues to navigate the many perils of growing up in this fantastically funny illustrated series for a 9-12 audience, filled with friendship, embarrassing moments, and plenty of lols. Woe is me. So much...
    Paperback
    $1900
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 80,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.