Book description
Smithy is a retired shearer turned vineyard worker in his autumn years.
It is hard graft, but Smithy has always worked with his hands.
Physically all but destroyed after a lifetime of hard liquor, but now
sober, he begins to see the world with new eyes, a meditative, singular
figure in the town's bar on rowdy Friday nights. But clarity can be a
curse. Finally confronting his past, overwhelmed by long-buried feelings
of regret, nostalgia and loss, Smithy steps in to help a young woman in
a desperate situation. A cautious friendship develops, but Charlotte's
husband is widely suspected of murder, and Smithy begins to fear that he
will pay a high price for his gallantry. Written with an authentic
music, and infused with beauty, brutality and sadness The Vintage and
the Gleaning is a compelling observation of men, women and country. A
remarkably accomplished debut novel. Smithy is a retired shearer
turned vineyard worker in his autumn years. It is hard graft, but Smithy
has always worked with his hands. Physically all but destroyed after a
lifetime of hard liquor, but now sober, he begins to see the world with
new eyes, a meditative, singular figure in the town's bar on rowdy
Friday nights. But clarity can be a curse. Finally confronting his past,
overwhelmed by long-buried feelings of regret, nostalgia and loss,
Smithy steps in to help a young woman in a desperate situation. A
cautious friendship develops, but Charlotte's husband is widely
suspected of murder, and Smithy begins to fear that he will pay a high
price for his gallantry. Written with an authentic music, and infused
with beauty, brutality and sadness The Vintage and the Gleaning is a
compelling observation of men, women and country. A remarkably
accomplished debut novel.
