A modern classic of one man's loss, struggle and survival in the Australian wilderness by the Booker Prize-shortlisted and Women Prize-winning Australian novelist Kate Grenville, introduced by Diana Athill

Kate Grenville's bestselling novel The Secret River received the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Miles Franklin Literary Award. The Idea of Perfection won the Orange Prize. Grenville's other novels include Sarah Thornhill, The Lieutenant, Lilian's Story, Dark Places and Joan Makes History.

Reading The Secret River may put you off anything less accomplished for a while