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A Flash in the Dust
Not yet published
Expected 2 Jun 26A gripping historical YA thriller, with a dash of queer romance. Think the bushranger version of Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.
1899, Fremantle Asylum, Western Australia. For three years now, Gilberta Brady has kept quiet and stayed out of trouble, hoping to soon be released. But when Norah Devaney screams into the ward with revenge in her heart and a story no-one believes, Brady's carefully guarded peace is shattered.
On the run and out of options, they collide with Kedalak and Malkar, Nyungar brothers on their own journey home. They form an unlikely gang of bushrangers and embark on a dangerous mission- track down the man who killed Norah's mum.
But little do they know that the Whistling Man is hunting them too.
1899, Fremantle Asylum, Western Australia. For three years now, Gilberta Brady has kept quiet and stayed out of trouble, hoping to soon be released. But when Norah Devaney screams into the ward with revenge in her heart and a story no-one believes, Brady's carefully guarded peace is shattered.
On the run and out of options, they collide with Kedalak and Malkar, Nyungar brothers on their own journey home. They form an unlikely gang of bushrangers and embark on a dangerous mission- track down the man who killed Norah's mum.
But little do they know that the Whistling Man is hunting them too.
- GenresHistoricalYoung Adult
272 pages, Paperback
Expected publication June 2, 2026
About the author
Meg Caddy
5 books60 followersMeg Caddy is a West Australian YA novelist with three published novels. Their first three novels, Waer, Devil's Ballast and Slipping the Noose, have been short- and longlisted for awards including the CBCA Book of the Year Award, the Readings Young Adult Book Prize and the ARA Historical Novel Prize. Meg is nonbinary and asexual. They have completed an Honours degree in English/History, writing on the Golden Age of Piracy, and a PhD in Creative Writing. When they're not writing, elbows-deep in archives or chasing around their toddler, Meg plays an unhealthy amount of Dungeons & Dragons.
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Review of advance copy received from Author
I may be biassed in favour of this book, but honestly? It's hard not to be. Perth readers are going to recognise so many locations and events in A Flash in the Dust. It gives a true sense of place and time. The brutality and struggle of our history, the beauty of the land, and the courage of every person who was truly themselves in a restrictive and censorious culture.
When I studied Australian history in high school, it was the story of white man after white man after white man. They did things, good (sometimes) or bad (often). The good was heroic, the bad was Of The Time. Everyone else had things done to them.
A Flash in the Dust is the story of the hidden people. The characters may be fictional, but their stories are based on a reality which is almost entirely overlooked in our history. Reading it was like finding water in the desert.
And my God, what a great ending.
When I studied Australian history in high school, it was the story of white man after white man after white man. They did things, good (sometimes) or bad (often). The good was heroic, the bad was Of The Time. Everyone else had things done to them.
A Flash in the Dust is the story of the hidden people. The characters may be fictional, but their stories are based on a reality which is almost entirely overlooked in our history. Reading it was like finding water in the desert.
And my God, what a great ending.
Displaying 1 of 1 review