Shining Like the Sun

Wilf Healy lives in the wheatbelt town of Selwyn, works in Monk's Irish pub, delivers letters, drives the school bus, holds the place together. But he's had enough, wants to retire - to forget his nephew Connor, at war with the world, his brother Brian, visiting from America, his niece Orla, sick with blood cancer. Although he plans, and tries, he can't leave. Something is holding him back. As the young people flee, the old people die, the drugs arrive in Selwyn, Wilf has to decide what's important. Shining Like the Sun is about the value of promises, of words and actions that might save a failing community. In the process, Wilf learns there's no such thing as retirement.

About the Author :
Stephen Orr was born in Adelaide in 1967, studied science and education and taught in a range of country and metropolitan schools. One of his early plays, Attempts to Draw Jesus, became his first novel, shortlisted for the Australian/Vogel's Literary Award. Since then he has published ten novels (most recently, Sincerely, Ethel Malley) and two volumes of short stories (Datsunland and The Boy in Time). He has been nominated for awards such as the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Miles Franklin Award and the International Dublin Literary Award.

Review :
'Stephen Orr (b. 1967) is a national treasure. Over the course of his prolific career he has written novels, novellas, YA, short stories, non-fiction and plays which are quintessentially Australian and yet universal in their preoccupations. His latest title Shining Like the Sun is not just a novel about an old man in a declining Australian town, it's about depopulation of the countryside all over the world and a celebration of what matters about life in small towns: a sense of connection. . . . Some of it is very funny.' -- Lisa Hill, ANZ LitLovers 'Stephen Orr's latest novel charts the complex interconnections of family and community, memory and place, in a story about the meaning of responsibility. His work has always focused heavily on the specifics of local settings, but also evokes a blend of gothic unease and quiet melancholy, borne perhaps of Australia's uniquely low population density and isolated settler-colonial history, which project an uneasy sense of in-betweenness' -- Ben Adams, InReview 'At its heart is the importance of love for family and friends, and a commitment to the community. As Connor says to himself at the conclusion of the novel - Wilf had taught him that people stayed with you, helped you, offered [silently, in strange ways] advice . The author - in his earlier days - taught in country schools and this experience has no doubt contributed to his ability to capture the essence of country and the dynamics of small country towns. Shining Like the Sun is a pleasure to read.' -- Rod McLary, Queensland Reviewers Collective 'Stephen Orr's Shining Like the Sun is like an Australian version of A Man Called Ove, with the same qualities of grit and humanity that made the Swedish novel so successful . . . Shining Like the Sun will appeal to fans of character-driven (and profound) stories, and as well as to readers who enjoy a long, slow burn of a tale.' -- Michelle Atkins, Books+Publishing