I have struggled a little bit with writing this review and it has taken me a few days to get my thoughts on the page. Not because I didn’t enjoy it or it was complicated – the exact opposite is true and I was unsure how to write a review to do the book justice! But here we go, I tried….

Limberlost by Robbie Arnott is a beautiful example of how the simplest of storylines can be the most profound and affecting when written with the skill that is shown within these pages.

Set in the Tasmanian Tamar Valley, we follow 15-year-old Ned who lives on the family orchard, Limberlost, with his father and sister. His two older brothers are fighting in the war and haven’t been heard from for a while. Ned spends his days shooting rabbits and selling their pelts to fund his secret dream of owning a boat to be able to spend his days on the river. The story meanders through Ned’s life as he reflects on the experiences this one summer taught him and shaped his life.

There were so many moments when reading this I stopped and just took a moment to appreciate how amazing a sentence or a paragraph was – it probably added a fair bit of time to my reading of the book! The characters are so well drawn and even though there isn’t much dialogue from Ned or his father I felt I knew them so well. The way Robbie puts into words the scenery his characters are in was the absolute highlight for me and I felt I was immersed into this stunning environment.

If you are after a well-crafted, simple story that has real depth, I highly recommend picking this one up. Hoping my clumsy review has given it the praise it deserves! This is my first book of Robbie Arnott’s I have read but it certainly won’t be the last.