Flames

'A strange and joyous marvel.'--Richard Flanagan, author of The Narrow Road to the Deep North; 'Visionary, vivid, full of audacious transformations: there's a marvellous energy to this writing that returns the world to us aflame. A brilliant and wholly original debut.'--Gail Jones, author of Sixty Lights and Sorry; 'Flames is constantly surprising--I never knew where the story would take me next. This book has a lovely sense of wonder for the world. It's brimming with heart and compassion.'--Rohan Wilson, author of To Name Those Lost; 'Arnott skilfully switches between different voices and genres in a trick reminiscent of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. The range he displays is impressive, swinging from fable to gothic horror to hardboiled detective story.'--Books+Publishing; 'An exuberantly creative and confident debut. This is a story that sparks with invention...Invigorating, strange and occasionally brutal.'--Australian Book Review; 'A surprising story with a definite feminist edge...the novel's playfulness and poetry make for a fresh and entertaining read.'--Saturday Paper; 'The key triumph of Flames is bringing Australia's southern island state to vivid life, characterising it as a robust survivor shaped by the extremes of fire and flood.'--Big Issue; 'Arnott confidently borrows from the genres of crime fiction, thriller, romance, comedy, eco-literature, and magical realism, throws them in the air, and lets the pieces land to form a flaming new world.'--Sydney Morning Herald; 'This is a startlingly good first novel, stylistically adventurous, gorgeous in its descriptions and with a compelling narrative that should find a wide readership.'--Australian; 'A gloriously audacious book. It runs astonishing risks and takes on the biggest emotions...It bowled me sideways.'--New Zealand Herald; 'An extremely evocative and imaginative work...Undeniably powerful...it is refreshing to see the Australian landscape written about so vividly.'--Good Reading;