The Fancies

Abigail Fancy returns to the tiny town that the Fancys have ruled for decades, fresh from her second stint in prison and utterly out of time... A bold, punchy and wry novel from the author of The Other Side of Beautiful.

A story about stories: those we tell, those we believe and those we make into a reality, whether true, murky or not true at all.

Port Kingerton: the insular cray-fishing town at the butt-end of South Australia, where everyone knows everyone. And everyone knows too that when Abigail Fancy left town at seventeen, she hung out the window of her boyfriend's Corolla, middle fingers held high, swearing she'd never come back. And she hasn't, until now.

At her parents' house, Abigail finds a party (read town meeting) in full swing over something iffy found on the beach - a thighbone. And although iffy things aren't uncommon in Port Kingerton, Abigail's surprise arrival forces a family - and an entire town - to unpack a twenty-four-year-old secret that rocked this tiny place to its core: that time they found something much iffier...

Through Abigail, her grandfather Old Dick Fancy's unreliable memories, and the collective voices of the town itself, Port Kingerton unravels as old wounds are picked open, skeletons fall from closets and unlikely bonds are forged. But will Abigail finally change the past...?

Fresh, punchy, expertly crafted and deliciously wry - the author of The Other Side of Beautiful returns with a tour de force of a small-town mystery where a homecoming lifts the veil on a time when a town failed to stand up for its girls.

PRAISE FOR KIM LOCK:

'With this book The Fancies, she establishes herself as an author to watch. With a voice that is unabashedly Australian, this is an extraordinary read, filled with irony and dry humour, and a total lack of pretension.' - Weekend Australian, Notable Books

'The Fancies is a wonder. A brilliantly observed, laugh-out-loud funny, page-turner with a tender heart and a spine of the finest feminist steel.' - Emily Maguire, acclaimed author of An Isolated Incident

'The Fancies is a page-turner; its voice is truly unabashedly Australian. It's delightful in its rhythm, pace, sense of irony and dry humour, and total lack of pretension... establishes Kim Lock as an author to watch.' - Better Reading

'Tender, funny and quietly profound, The Other Side of Beautiful is a breath of fresh air.' - The Sunday Times

'A colourful, engaging story of escape and road-trip adventure... also compellingly cinematic and features an endearing narrator-heroine with plenty of meaty real-world troubles.' - Sydney Morning Herald

'An engaging story about second chances and a life-changing road trip... a heart-warming story.' - Canberra Weekly magazine