Een leven zo ver

by M.L. Stedman

West-Australië, 1958. Een vrachtwagen dendert over een verlaten weg in de outback. Eén moment van onoplettendheid en in enkele verwarrende seconden zijn de levens van de familie MacBride verwoest.

Alleen zoon Matthew overleeft het ongeluk, maar met zware beperkingen. Toch weet hij vastberaden zijn weg terug te vinden naar huis, terug naar zijn moeder en zus. Wanneer plotseling het lot voor de tweede keer toeslaat, staat niet alleen zijn leven op het spel, maar ook zijn ziel – op een manier die niemand voor mogelijk had kunnen houden.

Een leven zo ver speelt zich af in een uitgestrekt, vlak landschap waar het weer onvoorspelbaar is en een schapenboerderij van een miljoen hectare nauwelijks een stipje op de kaart is. M.L. Stedman weet als geen ander de vinger te leggen op de grote menselijke conflicten en maakt daarmee een aangrijpende en helende leeservaring.

Een leven zo ver van M.L. Stedman, bekend van grote bestseller Het licht van de zee, is een meeslepend verhaal over tijd en veerkracht en de moeite die we doen om te behouden wat ons lief is.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Australia, Historical, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Adult

480 pages, Paperback

Expected publication March 3, 2026

About the author

M.L. Stedman was born and raised in Western Australia and now lives in London. The Light Between Oceans is her first novel.

Reviews

[theliterateleprechaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

448 pages ... and sooo good.

M.L. Stedman writes to ask us (1) how we can continue living when we feel we’ve done something that can’t be undone or fixed and (2) if today’s society prevents us from choosing ‘forgetment’.

The setting is paramount to this novel and I love how it is played out in the MacBride family’s experiences. Each character is seeking refuge from something, and while some rely on the remoteness for secrecy, others discover that they’ve been denied a future due to a single moment in their past. Isolation, a choice to forget what they can’t escape, and a limited way of communication allow those on Meredith Downs sheep station to keep putting one foot in front of the other and surviving. Stedman expertly highlights the notions that there’s no one right way to deal with intractable problems, that forgetting and forgiving go hand in hand, and that it’s the power of love that often keeps us afloat so we can heal.

Things that gave me pause for thought:
❣You don’t often get to choose how life turns out
❣Sometimes it just takes one person to —---
❣The thing that hurts us the most may just be the thing that helps us heal
❣Running from problems doesn’t solve anything
❣The value in the oxygen of ignorance
❣Is there ever a time when our secrets aren’t ours to tell?
❣Time and experience shape us more than we realize
❣Just because we’ve heard the song from one bird, doesn’t mean we understand the whole bird
❣There are things that need to wait for kinder times

This is a ‘forever shelf’ book, one that I know I’ll read again and again. It’s rich in emotion and offers plenty to think about. I won’t forget the characters or their experiences any time soon.

I was gifted this copy and was under no obligation to provide a review.

[Joanna Cannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

About 10 years ago, I visited CW Agency to meet my (amazing) soon-to-be-agent Sue Armstrong. I left with a huge (and very generous) tote bag filled with the books of authors Sue represents, and one of those books was a debut called The Light Between Oceans.

I fell in love with that book.

I fell in love SO MUCH, for the past decade I have (on many occasions) quizzed Sue as to whether there might be a second novel. 'Not yet!' was always the answer. Until now.
Goodreads, please let me introduce you to one of the most beautiful stories you will ever read. I hesitate to tell you what it's about, because it's about so many things ... but I will try.

This is a multi-generational novel, which begins in 1958, and is set on a vast sheep station, in Western Australia, run by the MacBrides. What happens to the MacBrides, I will leave you to discover for yourselves, but suffice to say they are vulnerable, not only to the brutality of the Western Australian landscape and the extremes of nature ... but also to the brutality of fate. To God's throw of the dice.

This is a story of how a moment's misjudgement leaves you with a burden you'll carry for the rest of your life; how, even in the middle of a million acres, you can still feel like a prisoner, and how - like the miners who descend on the land - you need to decide what should rise to the surface, and what is best left underground.

Not only is this an utterly BEAUTIFUL story and so deeply insightful, it's also written with such skill I felt as though I'd sat with Margot on the verandah at Meredith Downs, and she had turned to me and said 'let me tell you about the MacBride family'. When I reached the final page, I burst into tears - not because the story was upsetting, but because I didn't want her to stop talking.

The publisher bills this as 'the landmark publication of 2026'. For me, it's the landmark publication of a decade. It's truly a masterpiece and I want to march people to the pre-order pages, because it's the kind of book you will remember and treasure for the rest of your life, and I love the very bones of it.

[Tilly Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actual rating 4.5.

What an epic read this was! I don’t think I’d actually read the author’s previous novel, but will have to after this.

This is a novel that spans decades as we follow the MacBride family in rural Western Australia, and all the tragedies that unfold for them. The farm style setting (understatement given the size!) and darkness that runs through this novel reminded me a little of one of my other favourites, Go As A River by Shelley Read, although the story itself is quite different. It can be a hard read at times, and there are a lot of morally grey areas which really made me think, but it was also full of joy, wonder, love and hope. Definitely have the tissues handy for this one!

[Gwen_isreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

Echt een prachtig diepgaand verhaal over liefde, verlies & veel drama. Meerdere malen tranen in mijn ogen gehad en verbaast verder gelezen. Echt een prachtige roman die iedereen moet lezen! Vooral als je fan bent van de boeken van Kristin Hannah.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is beautiful and so well told. I marked up my copy with notes on tragedy, shame, family, forgiveness and courage (I am usually more of a vibes reader so this says a lot for the exceptional writing and headspace this book takes you).

This will break you down, leave you on edge and the build you up again. The landscape and community resilience of the place is as much of a character as any, but I especially warmed to the POW character (heart in my throat still for him).

Well done Ms Steadman. What an epic novel should be.

Note there are some sensitive subjects in here but she covers them tender prose.

Thank you to DoubleDay UK for the ARC

[Clare M · Rating 5 out of 5]

A devastating but beautiful read…

[Sali Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recensie exemplaar:

Een ontroerend en indrukwekkende roman waarbij voor mij de kern draait om de familie MacBride en hun veerkracht om door te gaan met leven na een reeks onvoorstelbare verliezen, verdriet en rouw.

​De setting in West-Australië is bijna een personage op zich. De wijdsheid van het landschap en het harde leven op de schapenboerderij dragen bij aan de omvang van het verdriet van de familie. De boerderij met haar cyclus van grazen, lammeren en scheren dwingt de familie om de zorg voor het leven voort te zetten, wat het symbolische thema van veerkracht versterkt. Ondanks alles gaat het leven door.
​De personages bestaan uit veel verschillende karakters die uitgebreid en met veel aandacht beschreven worden, waardoor ze heel echt worden. De auteur beschrijft hun gedachten, gevoelens en ervaringen, inclusief taboes, met zoveel zorg dat je als lezer niet anders kunt dan met ze mee voelen. Het is niet meteen duidelijk wat elk personage toevoegt, maar naarmate je verder leest valt er steeds meer op zijn plek. Het loont dus absoluut om door te lezen.
​Ondanks de poëtische toon en de beschrijvende stijl, weet de auteur de spanning vast te houden. Door het verhaal heen zitten zoveel geheimen die invloed hebben op hoe de personages reageren. Dit hield de spanning erin terwijl het verhaal zelf ingrijpend is.
​Er waren zeker punten die ik minder vond, maar de algehele leeservaring en de schrijfstijl maakten heel veel goed. Dit is een roman die je lang bijblijft.

[Craig Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a tricky book to review without giving away spoilers. So, in a departure from my usual approach, here are my thoughts.
Set in Western Australia and spanning 40+ years starting in the late the 1950s, A Far-flung Life is a tale of sheep, rocks, kangaroos, weather, mining, POWs, gossips, cricket, overzealous policemen, car accidents, boats, secrets and sacrifices.
It embraces memories, forgetments (you have to read the book), tragedies, relationships, fortitude, resilience, despair, inflexibility, courage, consequences, grievous predicaments, innocence and guilt, acceptance and forgiveness.
It’s a saga recording the history of a family that experiences more than its fair share of trauma. It’s about doing the right things, not always doing things right. Protecting what’s precious. Acting with compassion in the face of adversity.
M L Stedman’s writing transports you to a million acres of pastures, creeks, lakes and gorges replete with flora and fauna, benign and pernicious.
Melding wry humour with poignant pathos, it explores the boundaries of emotional endurance and the depths of aching regret.
A richly-drawn character driven epic that I have definitely filed under ‘memory’ not ‘forgetment’.
A Far-flung Life will be published in March 2026, a date well worth noting in your calendar.

[Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh wow, this story had me absolutely enraptured all the way through. I don’t really know how to put into words how much I enjoyed this book. I do know how much I’m going to miss reading about this family now I’ve finished, so emotional, so heartfelt. The MacBride family, as well as their friends and neighbours, become people you care about so much its almost as if they’re a part of your own life.

The setting is so evocatively described. Living on a huge Sheep station covering a million acres? Hard to ever imagine such a vast open space at the mercy of all weathers, drought, storms, ravaging heat. Only the toughest, most resolute could make a home there, yet that is what the MacBride family did, for generations living in Meredith Downs.

A story about the deep secrets people hold close, they can never let anyone know for the sake of their own self preservation and the preservation of others. As well as the family themselves, there are some wonderful supporting characters. Pete Peachy the roo shooter, who kept the kangaroo population down as they would take precious water from the sheep, steal their food, and sad though it is, were a pest as far as the sheep stations were concerned. He is such an important character who leads quite a solitary life for reasons best known to himself and yet he is such a kind, caring person who would look out for others in his own brusque way.

There’s nothing else to say, you have to read the book. I loved the ending, I’m not usually a happily ever after kind of reader but the last few chapters, the conclusion of this epic journey was just perfect, and yes, moved me to tears.

Of all the books I’ve read and all the books I’ll ever read, this one will never be a forgetment. (If you’ve read it, you’ll know 😉)

[Corinne Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been 6 years since I read Stedman's first book, "The Light Between Oceans", which I absolutely loved. This one was well worth the wait. The MacBrides have been in the sheep business for generations and call Meredith Downs, a vast landscape of sprawling fields, home (and a character all its own in this book). When tragedy strikes this family of 5 and turns it into a family of 3, it starts a chain of events that will change this family forever. The story is a slow-burn, where you sift through a large cast of characters and figure out the importance of each one. At times it can be tedious, but it is worth it. Secrets abound in this story, and some of them are pretty dark & shameful, but Stedman handles them in a gentle way that you won't be as disturbed by them. The biggest secret is what shapes the entire story, and you muddle along and see how this secret affects them all. This is a story of how one moment of misjudgment leaves you with a burden that you will carry with you for the rest of your life, and you need to decide what should be brought to the surface and what should remain buried. I will be thinking about this book for a while. I think that this will be one of 2026's best books.

Many thanks to NetGalley & Scribner for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

[Suzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book!
A real epic novel. Set across multiple generations in a place where resilience and resourcefulness are day to day necessities for survival.
Beautifully written and thoroughly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy to review.

[The Book Review Café · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Far-flung Life absolutely floored me. From the very first chapter, when a single accident tears the MacBride family apart, I was hooked, and heartbroken. M. L. Stedman has a way of writing that makes you feel the weight of every choice her characters make, as if you’re living their lives right alongside them.

The setting is extraordinary: the vast emptiness of Western Australia in the 1950s. You can almost feel the dust, the heat, the silence. It’s so remote and harsh, yet The author fills it with a community of people whose struggles, secrets, and sacrifices feel so deeply human. That contrast, between the unforgiving land and the tenderness of the characters, makes the story unforgettable.

What really stayed with me was how the novel explores resilience. It’s about the lengths we’ll go to for the people we love, even when it means carrying unbearable burdens ourselves. Some parts were heartbreaking (I’ll admit I cried), but there’s also so much beauty and hope woven through the sadness.

If you loved The Light Between Oceans, you’ll find the same luminous writing here, but this story feels even bigger, bolder, and more haunting. It’s one of those rare novels that I know will stay with me for years.
In short: moving, atmospheric, and utterly unforgettable. I can’t recommend it enough.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been more than 13 years since M.L. Stedman’s last book and the wait has absolutely been worth it. A Far Flung Life did not disappoint. It is sweeping and emotionally loaded and the exploits of the MacBride family, Lorna, Matt and Andy, will stay with me for a long time.

The atmospheric story spans decades and is set on a sheep station in Western Australia. Like her last book, Stedman touches on ethics and morals, and the impossible choices life sometimes hands you making one wonder how you would handle similar situations.

Some very difficult topics are explored, but I feel like care was taken so as to be thought provoking. The descriptions of the station are so vivid that the land becomes a character in its own right. Stedman perfectly captures the perils of living in a far flung community where people gossip, spy on others, and form opinions based on circumstantial evidence. These opinions can have drastic consequences, especially for the era in which the main part of the plot takes place.

This story made me angry, it made me sad, it made me cry, and it made me think. Yes, I’m being vague on the plot because I don’t want to spoil it and the reading experience. But trust me, you will find yourself rooting fiercely for some characters, furious at others, and heartbroken for more than one. If you love epic family dramas this one is for you. It publishes in March 2026.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC of one of my most anticipated reads of 2026.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

won an ARC copy from goodreads. I enjoyed parts of the book but other times it was hard to follow and not much going on. Very much a character driven novel.

I felt like some chapters could have been omitted and it wouldn't have take away from the story.

[Em theglitterybookworm_]

i have been waiting for a new M. L. Steadman for YEARS! put it in my veins!

[Susie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half was nicely done.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was unfortunately very very boring and I could not get into this novel.

[Sara]

From my lost diary
lost sheep
that song lay at many farm
our rivir never have shore
from our tears make sea and clowd drink
our tomp was have wood sowrd
ah how much we love lili
the wind went crazy over one tragic moment
sheep secret travil without land
runing at map of tears
no one want us coz we travel outside place and time
have freedom was hope break many ben
dont read our news
dont go after our step
just till our chilren at cold night
pray coz yr went heigh
we nt sail our sand or pain
that our winter friend
that land sheep

[Meliza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book completely swept me away, I was hooked from the very first chapter. It is a beautifully crafted, deeply ATMOSPHERIC novel.💕

This book has that rare, immersive quality. The author draws you in with vivid landscapes, finely observed human connections and a quiet tension that builds almost imperceptibly until you find yourself completely immersed. It feels less like reading a novel and more like being gently carried through someone else’s world!

The characters: wonderfully human… 💔 they feel COMPLEX, messy in the right ways, tender in the unexpected ones, and crafted with such care that you can’t help rooting for them even when they break your heart!! 🥺

If there’s a flaw, it is that the pacing eases up noticeably in the last third. Not unbearably so, just enough that I found myself wishing the momentum had held steady. Still, the book gathers itself for a striking and satisfying final part that fully rewards your patience and brought tears to my eyes.

Ultimately, the MacBride’s story was HARROWING, complicated and touching 😩 It’s one of those stories that LINGERS in the mind…

This is an elegantly written novel, emotionally resonant, quietly powerful, and well worth the read!!

[Whenimnotreadingharrypotter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to get an ARC at the book party and after loving The Light Between Oceans I had to get this.
I wanted to fall in love with it so much, but I didnt......
I enjoyed it at first and then during the middle it went slow and not alot happened. it took me a while to want to pick it back up and took me longer than usual to read.
I enjoyed the ending of the book and the beginning but the middle just fell flat for me and I know its not a happy ever after story but some of the characters stories made me really sad. Loved Andy and my heart really hurt for Matt.
It seemed really focused on his head injury and then all of a sudden that just disappeared as the story went on.....
the characters touched my heart but I didnt fall in love with the book :(

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dit is niet het soort boek wat ik meestal lees, maar toen LS mij uitnodigde voor de bijzonder leesclub waarbij wij de auteur konden ontmoeten, en ze dit verhaal al tot de roman van 2026 hebben benoemd, was ik na het lezen van de blurb toch overtuigd!

En ik kan je vertellen ik was zeker niet teleurgesteld, wat een prachtig verhaal is dit! Er zitten prachtige zinnen in zoals: "We denken dat we weten wie we zijn en dat we elke dag als min of meer dezelfde persoon wakker zullen worden. Maar net als stenen verweerd raken, worden wij onophoudelijk gevormd door de tijd en ervaringen, tot we deze wereld uiteindelijk verlaten met geen enkele cel die we bij onze geboorte hadden."

We volgen de familie MacBride die in West-Australië wonen op een schapenboerderij in de vorige eeuw. Na een ongeluk die de familie uit elkaar scheurt, en waarbij alleen Matthew het overleefd en zijn vader en 2 broers niet. Matthew heeft ook schade aan zijn geheugen opgelopen en kan zich niet meer alles herinneren van vroeger. Samen met zijn zus en moeder blijft hij op de boerderij wonen.

Ondanks dat het een afgelegen boerderij is komen er vaak genoeg ook andere mensen langs, zoals de kangoeroe jager, de postbode, en andere mensen uit het dorp. Ook komt er op een gegeven moment een mining crew langs om te graven naar mineralen.

Het is prachtig hoe M.L. Stedman al deze karakters levensecht laat aanvoelen. Alle karakters hebben hun eigen worstelingen met het verleden, heden en de onzekere toekomst. Er komen veel geheimen en vergetingen aanbod. Aan het einde knoopt ze alle losse eindjes op een bijzondere wijze weer aan elkaar vast.

Een verhaal over een familiedrama met trauma's, tragedie, verdriet, en geheimen als uitkomst. Maar toch ook hoop op een betere toekomst. En de belangrijkste vraag: Is een geheim (die meerdere levens kan verwoesten) bewaren, soms toch beter, dan wanneer het uitkomt?

[Niek Grotenhuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gisteren mocht ik aanwezig zijn bij de live leesclub van uitgeverij LS waarin we deze prachtige roman ‘Een leven zo ver’ bespraken. Aansluitend waren we te gast samen met een aantal boekverkopers en bookfluencers bij een gesprek tussen de de schrijfster M.L. (Margot) Stedman en Hedda Sanders de uitgever.

Er werd door Margot voorgedragen en we spraken over de karakters en de verhaallijnen in het boek. Het was een prachtige interactieve avond.

In ‘Een leven zo ver’ volgen we de familie MacBride woonachtig in West-Australië. We schrijven 1958. Het boek start met een auto-ongeluk wat de levens van de MacBrides volledig op zijn kop zal zetten.

Stedman neemt je in prachtige, beschrijvende zinnen mee door de levens van de MacBrides en deelt met de lezer hun zorgen, hun verlangens, hun pijn en hun grote verdriet. De wijdsheid en de traagheid van de Outback weet ze fenomenaal vast te leggen. Steeds meer lagen ontvouwen zich gaandeweg in het boek. Als dan opnieuw het noodlot toeslaat zit je als lezer inmiddels zo in het verhaal dat je de pijn voelt.
Ik wil niet teveel weggeven dus daarom kan ik alleen adviseren ga deze prachtige roman lezen. Je zult niet teleurgesteld worden. Zeker niet als je van ‘Ga als een rivier’, ‘Jij bent prachtig’ en ‘Als scheuren in de aarde’ hebt genoten.

Ik las een vooruitleesexemplaar waarvoor hartelijk dank uitgeverij LS

Het boek is vanaf 5 maart 2026 te koop en adviseer je hem vast op je leeslijst te zetten.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Manon Broekx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prachtig geschreven, vol plottwists en velen hartverscheurende stukken. Nog nooit eerder las ik een roman die je alle kanten op sleurt. Het ruwe decor van West Australië maakt het extra bijzonder.

[Shirley Freeman]

Stedman has written an immersive family saga from the far reaches of Western Australia. The MacBrides are good people who’ve been homesteading and sheep farming on 1,000,000 acres of remote land for several generations. Beginning in January 1958, a series of tragedies strikes and the family has to reinvent itself over time. The novel explores the nature of secrets and privacy, duty, shame, and love. One of the secondary characters, Roo shooter Pete Peachy, is a source of wisdom to more than one generation of MacBrides, and to the reader as well. The novel reminds us that we are all more than one thing and that we are not defined by the worst things we’ve done. Great read!

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a Western Australia sheep farm in 1958, the lives of the MacBride family are shattered and unforeseen consequences are put in motion by a tragic truck accident on a lonely road. This layered, multigenerational saga kept me reading past my bedtime. The power of this book lies in the sweep of the unforgiving landscape, the characters who inhabit the farm and its environs, the life of the nearest tiny town, and the very human story it tells. A worthy follow-up to The Light Between Oceans.

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story set the 1950’s in the outback in Australia about the MacBride family.
After an accident members of the family find it difficult to cope and they struggle to get on with their lives.
A slow moving tale that is very sad in parts.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House, Transworld Publishers for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Far-Flung Life is an epic story of the MacBride family in the Australian Outback, mainly taking place in the middle of the twentieth century, after World War II.

M.L. Steadman tells the story beautifully, but readers should be advised that a lot of this story is not a particularly happy one, and if you’re looking for an easy and warm and fuzzy read, you aren’t going to get it here.

Some of this should be obvious because the book takes place on a sheep station in the Outback. Being a rancher (in American terms) is not easy, and it’s even more challenging in an unforgiving environment. The MacBrides operate on a lot of land to help mitigate this, but it is still an ever present threat that nature could deal you a fatal blow.

But yet it’s the car accident very early in the book that takes the lives of father Phil and oldest son Warren, and leaves younger son Matt struggling to recover his memory while rehabilitating his body that deals the most deadly blow to a generation of the family. Though she wasn’t part of the accident, it also has a profound effect on Warren and Matt’s sister Rose, and another event that follows will leave the MacBrides teetering on the edge of collapse.

The next part of the book follows Matt, the last of his siblings still at the station, as he and his mother Lorna raise Andy, the next generation of the family. In addition to the traditional battles with Mother Nature, they also now have to deal with mining prospectors. Bonnie Edquist might be searching for minerals for her uncle’s company, but she’s also the first chance in a long time that Matt’s had for finding happiness. The only things standing in his way is his own family’s secrets, and the risks of the nosy wife of a postal worker and the new by the books sheriff digging them up.

The book is a reminder of how fragile life can be, how it can get up ended by one brief moment in time, and how decisions made for one reason or another can affect how life plays out. There were so many times I wanted to put this book down and walk away, not because the book was bad, but because it was so beautifully sad. But there were also moments of joy and sacrifice in it to make it worth getting through the hard parts, reminders that there are good people out there who will do what they feel is right to life worth living.

I absolutely recommend this book with the caveat that there are probably a lot of content warnings that could preface this story.

A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Sarah Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of an outback Western Australia family in the late 1950s we meet the family who run a remote sheep farm on thousands of acres of Australian scrub and desert. The story starts when there is a family disaster and follows the family as they come to grips with their new reality .
The first chapter really grabbed my attention it is fast paced and witty and you are quickly thrown into the story
The book really gives you the feeling of being on a remote outback farming Australia incredibly atmospheric you can almost feel the heat and hear the flies.

The author very skilfully develops his characters so that you really feel you know them by the end of the book there love and regrets are followed through throughout a long time period in their life
There are some difficult subjects covered in the book, but although these may focus the characters emotions they do not completely over shadow the story. This novel is by no means a misery memoir it’s ultimately optimistic and full of love.
I love the authors writing style. It’s a very relaxing immersive read.
I have read the author’s previous novel The light between oceans a few few years ago before I started writing reviews and enjoyed it very much one of those novels that stays in your memory. This book also I think will stay with me for quite some time.
I would recommend this novel for those who love a primarily character based novel with plenty of emotion and a great exotic setting both in time and place.
I read the book on NetGalley UK and return for an honest review. The book is published in the UK on the 5th of March 2026 by random house UK Transworld publishers double day


This review will appear on NetGalley UK, StoryGraph, Goodreads, and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com
After publication, it will also appear on Amazon Sun UK and Waterstones

[Stephanie (aka WW) · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.5 stars) This book delivered on its promise to immerse me in a time and place that I was new to – Western Australia in the late 1950s and 1960s. The MacBride family manages a million-acre sheep farm in remote Australia, a land that takes days to drive around, whose sheep live or die by the rainfall it gets, and is over-run by roos (they even have a roo-shooter on staff). I was drawn in by the descriptions of daily life on the huge farm and the colorful characters that inhabited it.

The book starts off with a bang – a tragedy that sends the MacBride family reeling. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. But then, something happens that ruined the book for me. It’s something that the entire book keys on and I just couldn’t buy it. There are, in fact, two or three more occurrences that came across to me as implausible. It all just seemed a bit lazy on the part of the author to rely on unlikely event after unlikely event.

So, while I loved the way this book was written and I loved the descriptions of the land and its inhabitants, I ultimately found the plot too far-fetched. Maybe the title for the book should have been A Far-Fetched Life… But don’t rely on my opinion. Almost everyone else who has read this book as of this post (126 reviewers) loves it. And, come to think of it, I found the author’s previous book also depended on an unlikely event – a baby washing up on the shore of a lighthouse and found by a woman who had been unsuccessful at concieving children. Most others were able to suspend their disbelief for that book too. I gave it 3 stars for the writing. This one gets 2.5.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for allowing me access to this e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This book hits the shelves on March 3, 2026.

[Tarah Manning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Running a sheep station in the middle of the Australian outback in the 1950s isn’t exactly an easy life, but for the MacBride family, it’s all they’ve ever known. When Phil MacBride and his two sons, Warren and Matt, crash their truck out on their property, the tragedy sends shockwaves through the family that stretch across generations.

Stedman’s writing is absolutely stunning - you can feel the sun beating down on your neck, smell the kicked-up dust from the utes, and see the dry expanse of the land spreading endlessly in every direction. The atmosphere is there in full force, and that’s what kept me turning the pages.

But as beautiful as the writing was, I struggled to stay engaged. The story just didn’t pull me in until about three-quarters of the way through, and by then, I was mostly curious to see how it would all end. The pacing felt slow, and I had a hard time connecting with the characters early on. I kept wishing we’d been given more of their backstories sooner, especially the side characters who ended up shining brightest toward the end.

By the last section, I finally felt invested - but it took a long time to get there. I think readers who love slow, quiet family sagas will find something here to appreciate, especially those who enjoy beautifully written, atmospheric stories about legacy and loss.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for providing me with an Advanced Reader’s Edition in exchange for my honest review.