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A Far-Flung Life

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Brief Description
From the author of the acclaimed bestseller The Light Between Oceans comes a breathtaking and epic novel set in the vast outback of Australia—about tragedy, family secrets, and the enduring power of love. When we do something that can't be undone or mended, how do we... Read More
Format: Hardback
$7100

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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
From the author of the acclaimed bestseller The Light Between Oceans comes a breathtaking and epic novel set in the vast outback of Australia—about tragedy, family secrets, and the enduring power of love.

When we do something that can't be undone or mended, how do we go on living? How do we find our North Star when there is no right answer? These are the questions at the centre of M. L. Stedman's unforgettable and magisterial new novel, A Far-flung Life. From the author of the beloved and bestselling The Light Between Oceans, this is a sweeping and epic story of a family, a tragedy, and the aftermath that reverberates for decades.

Remote Western Australia, 1958: here, for generations, the MacBrides have lived on a vast sheep station, Meredith Downs. It is a million acres, an ocean of arid land. On an ordinary day, on a lonely road, under the unending blue sky, patriarch Phil MacBride swerves to avoid a kangaroo. In seconds the lives of the entire MacBride family are shattered. And then, tragedy revisits when a twist of consequences claims the life of one sibling, and leads another to give up everything for the sake of an innocent child. Matt, the youngest MacBride, is plunged into a moral and emotional journey for which there is no map, no guide. The secrets at the heart of this gutting and beautiful story force him to choose between love and duty, sacrifice and happiness.

A Far-flung Life is a tale about family and belonging, fate and time. It is about people trying to do their best, and each, for private reasons, seeking shelter from the storm of life.

Can a fleeting moment unravel a whole life, mar it indelibly and irrevocably? Can compassion, resilience and forgiveness allow us to come to terms with our human imperfections? These are the questions Stedman asks in A Far-flung Life, her profoundly moving, uplifting, and luminous new novel about what the heart can endure for the sake of love.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781668219614

Publisher: Scribner Book Company

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 03 March 2026

Imprint: Scribner Book Company

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 23.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 549g

Pages: 448

About the Author

M.L. Stedman was born and raised in Western Australia and now lives in London. The Light Between Oceans was her first novel. A Far-flung Life is her second novel.

Also by M L Stedman

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  • The Light Between Oceans
    The Light Between Oceans is a mesmerizing Australian novel that has become a bestselling book around the world. The Hollywood movie rights were recently acquired by Dreamworks, with David Heyman (Harry Potter) set to produce. The book is the winner of three prestigious ABIA awards, including 'Book of the Year', and also won the Indie Awards' 'Book of the Year'....
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  • A Far-flung Life
    Set against the vast and timeless landscape of Western Australia, a mesmeric tale of lives blighted by innocent guilt, from the author of the award-winning global bestseller, The Light Between Oceans. Western Australia, 1958: here, for generations, the MacBrides have lived on a remote sheep station, Meredith Downs. A million acres, it’s an ocean of arid land. On an ordinary day,...
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  • The Light Between Oceans
    Pre-order
    The Light Between Oceans
    The mesmerising tale of love and loss as a beautiful clothbound hardback, part of the Penguin Modern Australian Classics series. 1926. Tom Sherbourne is a young lighthouse keeper on a remote island off Western Australia. The only inhabitants of Janus Rock, he and his wife Isabel live a quiet life, cocooned from the rest of the world. Then one April...
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    Out 8 Sep 2026

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