Graft

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 PRIME MINISTER'S LITERARY AWARDS

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 STELLA PRIZE

A gorgeously written reflection, set in Tasmania, on motherhood, farming, nature and home.

In my mind I walk over the land. I run my hands through the grass as if it were the hair on my head. I dig my fingers into the dirt as if the soil were the crust of my skin.

Combining pages of her diary, kept through lambing seasons on a wool Merino farm on the east coast of Tasmania, with observations on the world around her, MacKellar writes a stunning thanksgiving on place, mothers, and the ways we cannot escape the elemental laws of nature. Her love for and knowledge of the land on which she lives, the lambs she cares for, and the birds she adores—illustrated in stunning line drawings through the book—are writ large.

You will want to leap into the pages and walk beside Maggie as she saves ewes, lambs, tends to her beloved horses and dogs, and considers the challenges and joys of motherhood and farming.

Susan Duncan on When It Rains: 'An unforgettable story of love and courage that inspires even as it breaks your heart.'