Ben's Book Club Featuring THE CAMPERS by Maryrose Cuskelly

Leah has a good life. She lives on the Drove, an inner-city cul-de-sac, with her husband, Moses, and their two children. She and her neighbours - the drovers - look out for each other. Theirs is a safe, community-oriented enclave and that's the way it's going to stay.

When itinerants set up camp in 'their' park, some of the drovers are unsettled, some are outraged, and all of them want the campers to move on. Not even Sholto, the campers' charismatic leader, can put their fears to rest.

Why is Sholto - handsome, charming and apparently with other options - living in a tent, and why has he chosen to pitch it beside the Drove? And why is Leah tempted to put her family and her comfortable life at risk when Sholto turns his wolf-like gaze towards her?

A compelling and revealing novel, The Campers shows what neighbours will do when anarchy and misrule threaten their cosy community.

Maryrose Cuskelly is the best-selling author of The Cane, shortlisted for Best Crime Fiction Debut in the 2022 Davitt Awards.

Her book Wedderburn: A true tale of blood and dust was longlisted for Best Debut and Best True Crime in the 2019 Davitt Awards and in 2016, she was awarded the New England Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing for her essay on the 1972 abduction and murder of Marilyn Wallman.

Maryrose's other works include Original Skin: Exploring the marvels of the human hide and The End of Charity: Time for social enterprise, co-written with Nic Frances. The latter was the winner of the Iremonger Award for Writing on Public Issues.

She has twice been awarded fellowships at Varuna, the National Writers' House, most recently in 2020 for her novel The Campers.

Ben’s Book Club is a free monthly digital book club hosted by author Ben Hobson - brought to you by OverDrive Australia. We welcome guests to join us the fourth Tuesday of each month to engage and interact with authors from all genres. The Zoom link will be emailed to all attendees on the day of the event. During this digital book club, guests will have the opportunity to ask questions, interact with the authors, and enjoy a well-rounded bookish discussion.

This month’s featured title is available to borrow from Hornsby Shire Libraries eLibrary with no waitlists or holds! Download the Libby app to start reading: meet.libbyapp.com

Author Maryrose Cuskelly. Image credit: Heather Lighton