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The Hands
*Longlisted for the prestigious 2016 Miles Franklin Award
"He didn't look like he could jump a bull, but she knew he could. It was all in the hands, he'd often explain. The will. The bloody mindedness."
On a cattle station that stretches beyond the horizon, seven people are trapped by their history and the need to make a living. Trevor Wilkie, the good father, holds it all together, promising his sons a future he no longer believes in himself. The boys, free to roam the world's biggest backyard, have nowhere to go. Trevor's father, Murray, is the keeper of stories and the holder of the deed. Murray has no intention of giving up what his forefathers created. But the drought is winning. The cattle are ribs. The bills keep coming. And one day, on the way to town, an accident changes everything.
"He didn't look like he could jump a bull, but she knew he could. It was all in the hands, he'd often explain. The will. The bloody mindedness."
On a cattle station that stretches beyond the horizon, seven people are trapped by their history and the need to make a living. Trevor Wilkie, the good father, holds it all together, promising his sons a future he no longer believes in himself. The boys, free to roam the world's biggest backyard, have nowhere to go. Trevor's father, Murray, is the keeper of stories and the holder of the deed. Murray has no intention of giving up what his forefathers created. But the drought is winning. The cattle are ribs. The bills keep coming. And one day, on the way to town, an accident changes everything.
370 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 30, 2015
5 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Orr
19 books32 followersStephen Orr is an Australian writer of novels, short stories and non-fiction. His works are set in uniquely Australian settings, including coastal towns, outback regions and the Australian suburbs. His fiction explores the dynamics of Australian families and communities.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 18, 2016
In Stephen Orr’s The Hands: A Pastoral, a cattle property in the middle of the desert has been in the family for generations. But life on the farm has been hard for a long time. The drought is decimating the cattle herd and the stress of living and working on a property that it is no longer economically viable is starting to eat away at family relationships. Orr is known for his interest in and dissection of family dynamics and the handling of this subject matter makes the novel quite a merciless read on some levels. There is a sense of entrapment among the characters, not only through physical location but through an ingrained emotional attachment to the land, an ideal perpetuated by the holder of the title deeds, the grandfather, Murray.
The wants and needs of this patriarch, rule the rest of the family. This is a man who will do anything to keep the property his own father worked. In turn he expects his son Trevor to do as he says. Trevor might be married with two teenage sons but in effect, as in most bush families he still works for his father. In turn his teenage sons are also expected to carry on the farm into the future.
Three generations live in the homestead. Including Aunty Fay who moves in after her failed marriage along with her son Chris who has been born with some mental issues but finds a life on the property that may not have been available elsewhere. For a household full of people Orr presents us with a family that has a clear inability to communicate at nearly every level. This is a world where each individual, down to the younger son Harry, puts on a façade to try and ensure a semblance of ‘happy’ family.
Orr can’t keep this narrative going forever. A catalyst is needed to break the inherent angst and the resulting collateral damage does indeed change everyone’s lives. This is not the idyllic novel that the sub-title suggests. This is a raw, in your face, suffering rural Australia.
I can’t say I particularly liked any of the characters. The bleakness of the work was made even more sombre by Orr’s passionless style. What I did enjoy were his descriptions of the desert, the reality of working the land as well as the daily monotony. We also see Trevor gradually coming to understand that he wants a better life, for his family and himself. Other interesting aspects which probably saved the work from being too harsh were the sub-plots, art, oblique references to climate change and the Great War.
The wants and needs of this patriarch, rule the rest of the family. This is a man who will do anything to keep the property his own father worked. In turn he expects his son Trevor to do as he says. Trevor might be married with two teenage sons but in effect, as in most bush families he still works for his father. In turn his teenage sons are also expected to carry on the farm into the future.
Three generations live in the homestead. Including Aunty Fay who moves in after her failed marriage along with her son Chris who has been born with some mental issues but finds a life on the property that may not have been available elsewhere. For a household full of people Orr presents us with a family that has a clear inability to communicate at nearly every level. This is a world where each individual, down to the younger son Harry, puts on a façade to try and ensure a semblance of ‘happy’ family.
Orr can’t keep this narrative going forever. A catalyst is needed to break the inherent angst and the resulting collateral damage does indeed change everyone’s lives. This is not the idyllic novel that the sub-title suggests. This is a raw, in your face, suffering rural Australia.
I can’t say I particularly liked any of the characters. The bleakness of the work was made even more sombre by Orr’s passionless style. What I did enjoy were his descriptions of the desert, the reality of working the land as well as the daily monotony. We also see Trevor gradually coming to understand that he wants a better life, for his family and himself. Other interesting aspects which probably saved the work from being too harsh were the sub-plots, art, oblique references to climate change and the Great War.
November 18, 2017
Finish date: 16 November 2917
Genre: fiction
Rating: C
Review:
Cover: The first thing I noticed on the cover is ‘An Australian Pastoral’. In this book a pastoral is simply and escape…place of retreat. Physical retreat (bush) for a simple way of life. Emotional retreat with 3 generations of men who have difficulty communicating their feelings.
Place: where on can explore the past (Murray the grandfather) an imagine an alternative future (Trevor and his sons)
Theme: This is a redemptive story of men whose failures, accidental or intended, seem insurmountable….but are resolved. Grandfather, son and grandsons grieve for the loss of life (a grandfather, wife, mother) -- the loss of the rural working life -- the loss of the land.
…and the difficulties of putting a self back together.
Conlusion: This was a good book…but not great. It did not sweep me off my feet.
Perhaps other readers have a different reaction to this book It was shortlisted for Miles Franklin 2016...so Stephen Orr must be doing something right!
Genre: fiction
Rating: C
Review:
Cover: The first thing I noticed on the cover is ‘An Australian Pastoral’. In this book a pastoral is simply and escape…place of retreat. Physical retreat (bush) for a simple way of life. Emotional retreat with 3 generations of men who have difficulty communicating their feelings.
Place: where on can explore the past (Murray the grandfather) an imagine an alternative future (Trevor and his sons)
Theme: This is a redemptive story of men whose failures, accidental or intended, seem insurmountable….but are resolved. Grandfather, son and grandsons grieve for the loss of life (a grandfather, wife, mother) -- the loss of the rural working life -- the loss of the land.
…and the difficulties of putting a self back together.
Conlusion: This was a good book…but not great. It did not sweep me off my feet.
Perhaps other readers have a different reaction to this book It was shortlisted for Miles Franklin 2016...so Stephen Orr must be doing something right!
January 19, 2016
Last week, when I posted some Sensational Snippets from Stephen Orr’s new novel The Hands I was preoccupied by his evocation of a pitiless landscape in marginal country on the edge of the Nullarbor. But now that I have finished the novel, I have been mulling over his unsettling dissection of relationships in a particular rural context. I have been haunted by the sense of entrapment and the incapacity of the novel’s characters to express themselves and their inchoate desires.
I’ll probably get myself into trouble with this generalisation, but I think that rural fathers have a preoccupation with inheritance. They have an expectation that a son will take over the farm so that it stays in the family. This son is sometimes a Chosen One rather than the traditional eldest, and sometimes a conscript. Amongst the most unsentimental of men, there is a sentimental attachment to this kind of family business that doesn’t seem to apply to other kinds of family business in the same way, and there is an implied or express moral imperative for the Chosen One to set aside any other preferences or ambitions in the service of ‘keeping it in the family’. A profitable farm can therefore cause tensions between siblings when The One inherits it all, but an unprofitable or marginal farm can be a millstone around the neck from which other siblings are grateful to escape. An only son in this situation has very little choice if not to cause irreparable damage to the fabric of the family.
In Orr’s novel, the farm has been in the family for generations. If Bundeena was ever profitable it isn’t now and the debt situation is so dire that the bank hesitates to sell them up because they wouldn’t get any money for the place anyway. (The Hands isn’t IMO CliFi but there is an awareness that climate change is impacting on whatever viability the farm once had). But old Murray won’t contemplate walking away: his son Trevor is running the farm without much say in how things are, and it is expected that Aiden, one of Trevor’s two sons will take over after that. But that’s a hopeless future, and even the boy knows it.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/10/30/th...
I’ll probably get myself into trouble with this generalisation, but I think that rural fathers have a preoccupation with inheritance. They have an expectation that a son will take over the farm so that it stays in the family. This son is sometimes a Chosen One rather than the traditional eldest, and sometimes a conscript. Amongst the most unsentimental of men, there is a sentimental attachment to this kind of family business that doesn’t seem to apply to other kinds of family business in the same way, and there is an implied or express moral imperative for the Chosen One to set aside any other preferences or ambitions in the service of ‘keeping it in the family’. A profitable farm can therefore cause tensions between siblings when The One inherits it all, but an unprofitable or marginal farm can be a millstone around the neck from which other siblings are grateful to escape. An only son in this situation has very little choice if not to cause irreparable damage to the fabric of the family.
In Orr’s novel, the farm has been in the family for generations. If Bundeena was ever profitable it isn’t now and the debt situation is so dire that the bank hesitates to sell them up because they wouldn’t get any money for the place anyway. (The Hands isn’t IMO CliFi but there is an awareness that climate change is impacting on whatever viability the farm once had). But old Murray won’t contemplate walking away: his son Trevor is running the farm without much say in how things are, and it is expected that Aiden, one of Trevor’s two sons will take over after that. But that’s a hopeless future, and even the boy knows it.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/10/30/th...
December 11, 2015
I have read all of Stephen Orr's books, so was eager about this one. It didn't disappoint. The way Orr depicts the character of the people, culture and landscapes of South Australia is remarkable. This story is about a family of arid farmers, somewhere in the remote west of the state, who are struggling against drought and global markets to keep the farm that has been in the family for generations. In the time of the story, there are three generations at the farm, who each have a different perspective on themselves and the future. Early in the story there is a terrible accident that changes the course of the family and tests the relationships through the generations. The book is all the more remarkable because the issues for this family are being played out in farms and remote communities across Australia all the time. The drama and emotion is in the commonality of the problems.
You don't have to be a South Australian to appreciate Stephen Orr's work, but it enhances your appreciation of the textures he puts into them. I think that Orr stands next to Peter Goldsworthy as South Australia's finest contemporary writers. The Hands just reinforced for me a view I have held for some time.
You don't have to be a South Australian to appreciate Stephen Orr's work, but it enhances your appreciation of the textures he puts into them. I think that Orr stands next to Peter Goldsworthy as South Australia's finest contemporary writers. The Hands just reinforced for me a view I have held for some time.
January 18, 2017
‘Trevor Wilkie knelt in front of the fence.’
Trevor Wilkie and his family live on a remote cattle farm called Bundeena, in the west of South Australia. There are seven members of this extended family: Trevor, his wife Carelyn and their sons Harry and Aiden. Harry, aged 11, is still at home while Aiden, aged 17, is attending boarding school. The other family members are Trevor’s 74-year-old father, Murray, his sister Fay and her son Chris. Fay moved in with Chris after her marriage failed and while Chris is an adult age-wise, mentally he is not.
Murray holds the deed to the farm, and he expects his son and grandsons to continue farming. Never mind that the drought persists, that the cattle are in poor condition, and the farm is in debt. Murray’s ties to the past are far more important than any consideration of a different future.
This novel unfolds in three chronologically titled parts: 2004, 2005 and 2006. Much of the story is told through three person perspectives at Bundeena, part is Aiden’s view from boarding school.
While Murray casts a huge brooding shadow over Bundeena, it is Trevor who is central to the operation of the farm. It is Trevor’s hands that matter:
‘He didn't look like he could jump a bull, but she knew he could. It was all in the hands, he'd often explain. The will. The bloody mindedness. ‘
In addition to his farming work and his driving, Trevor is also sculpting Harry’s hands. His progress with the sculpture provides a contemporary frame for the novel. It’s a measurable, tangible achievement.
Life on this farm is never easy. A family trapped together, lives shaped by accidents and secrets. Can there be any escape?
This is the first of Stephen Orr’s novels I have read, and I’ve now added the others to my reading list. This novel is lingering on in my mind, reminding me to think about the assumptions we make during life, and of the consequences of choice. The characters in this novel are perfectly realised, flawed humans. There are no heroes here, just people doing the best they can, gradually becoming aware that there just might be other life options available.
Highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Trevor Wilkie and his family live on a remote cattle farm called Bundeena, in the west of South Australia. There are seven members of this extended family: Trevor, his wife Carelyn and their sons Harry and Aiden. Harry, aged 11, is still at home while Aiden, aged 17, is attending boarding school. The other family members are Trevor’s 74-year-old father, Murray, his sister Fay and her son Chris. Fay moved in with Chris after her marriage failed and while Chris is an adult age-wise, mentally he is not.
Murray holds the deed to the farm, and he expects his son and grandsons to continue farming. Never mind that the drought persists, that the cattle are in poor condition, and the farm is in debt. Murray’s ties to the past are far more important than any consideration of a different future.
This novel unfolds in three chronologically titled parts: 2004, 2005 and 2006. Much of the story is told through three person perspectives at Bundeena, part is Aiden’s view from boarding school.
While Murray casts a huge brooding shadow over Bundeena, it is Trevor who is central to the operation of the farm. It is Trevor’s hands that matter:
‘He didn't look like he could jump a bull, but she knew he could. It was all in the hands, he'd often explain. The will. The bloody mindedness. ‘
In addition to his farming work and his driving, Trevor is also sculpting Harry’s hands. His progress with the sculpture provides a contemporary frame for the novel. It’s a measurable, tangible achievement.
Life on this farm is never easy. A family trapped together, lives shaped by accidents and secrets. Can there be any escape?
This is the first of Stephen Orr’s novels I have read, and I’ve now added the others to my reading list. This novel is lingering on in my mind, reminding me to think about the assumptions we make during life, and of the consequences of choice. The characters in this novel are perfectly realised, flawed humans. There are no heroes here, just people doing the best they can, gradually becoming aware that there just might be other life options available.
Highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
September 22, 2018
The Hands focuses on the Wilkies, a family living and working on a cattle station in remote Australia during a severe drought. The patriarch, Murray, holds the deed and does not want to let it go, while his son, Trevor, is just trying to keep the farm going, all the time hoping for a better future he can bequeath to his sons, Aiden and Harry. Padding the family out is Carelyn, Trevor’s wife who holds the family together, and Murray’s sister, Fay and her disabled son, Chris.
Stephen Orr has created a vivid world and a cast of characters that it is very easy to become invested in. Although I couldn’t really determine where the novel was moving, it was still a compelling, gripping read that felt as though it accurately reflected the harsh realities of being in an isolated environment, particularly one that is facing hardship and a struggle for survival. The family dynamics are particularly fascinating, the push-and-pull of father-and-son relationships and the bond between the brothers, Aiden and Harry. All characters are drawn sympathetically, where we can understand their thinking, feel sorry for them and also detest them at times.
The one place I felt the book let me down was in the characters of Trevor and Gaby, a late addition, to the family. Gaby, I found, was positioned to be resented by the reader, seen primarily though hostile eyes which resulted in me seeing her as an intruder who didn’t just ‘get it’. . Trevor’s character, I found, seemed to be struck with the martyr stick a bit too hard and that was difficult to square with after .
But, regardless of these quibbles, I did love this novel a lot.
Stephen Orr has created a vivid world and a cast of characters that it is very easy to become invested in. Although I couldn’t really determine where the novel was moving, it was still a compelling, gripping read that felt as though it accurately reflected the harsh realities of being in an isolated environment, particularly one that is facing hardship and a struggle for survival. The family dynamics are particularly fascinating, the push-and-pull of father-and-son relationships and the bond between the brothers, Aiden and Harry. All characters are drawn sympathetically, where we can understand their thinking, feel sorry for them and also detest them at times.
The one place I felt the book let me down was in the characters of Trevor and Gaby, a late addition, to the family. Gaby, I found, was positioned to be resented by the reader, seen primarily though hostile eyes which resulted in me seeing her as an intruder who didn’t just ‘get it’. . Trevor’s character, I found, seemed to be struck with the martyr stick a bit too hard and that was difficult to square with after .
But, regardless of these quibbles, I did love this novel a lot.
January 7, 2020
Orr seems to be one of Australia’s unknown authors, and I cannot understand why. He captures time, place, people, voices, dialogue, the air, the mood ... everything, so well I don’t know why he’s not seen in the same light as someone like Tim Winton. This story -a pastoral (how apt for a tale set in Australia’s ‘outback’) - tells the tale of an extended family struggling to make a living off 38,000 hectares of the harshest part of our country. It resonates with truth and deep emotion. I finished this on 2 January and it might just be my book of the year. It will take some beating.
March 12, 2016
A wonderful read which beautifully captures a farming family ... Its stresses, strains as well as the love; the tricky challenges regarding succession and expectations; the way harsh life can engender harsh attitudes. For my full review, check http://whisperinggums.com/2016/01/09/...
June 11, 2022
I tried so hard to like this. Writing is excellent, evocative. But not enough to make me want to plough through to the end: I stopped caring about the characters about 1/4 the way through. The narrative (to me) was plodding if a writer’s aim is to engage the reader and hold that reader’s interest, well - it didn’t happen for me.
Read
September 10, 2022The pace, the human detail and the setting won't suit all readers - but I think this book is absolutely amazing.
Doesn't hurt that I've spent time in an around the book locations.
When it comes to reading people, I suspect Orr is very, very good at that in real life.
Doesn't hurt that I've spent time in an around the book locations.
When it comes to reading people, I suspect Orr is very, very good at that in real life.
May 4, 2016
Reading Group selection for April 2016
September 8, 2017
A remote cattle farm, an extended family, making the farm pay for its keep. What an engrossing read. It's my first ever book of Stephen Orr.
January 28, 2023
Three generations of a family living on a drought stricken cattle farm in outback South Australia are facing challenges typical of their situation. None of the characters are particularly likeable and all seem to have difficulties in communicating with each other. The old man, Murray, won’t hand over the property to his adult son Trevor, nor will he consider selling to developers - prolonging the inevitable perhaps. The story starts in 2004 and features all the setbacks of intergenerational life: Trevor’s older son (at boarding school) who is aware of expectations and obligations yet rebels by wanting a career away from the farm; a younger son whose education is via School of the Air and who misses his older brother; the aunt who helps but focuses on her developmentally challenged grown son who himself is useless on the farm and old Murray who is bitter, stubborn and unrealistic about the farm’s longevity.
Author Stephen Orr has nailed all the characters - I can visualise and hear them all. Murray is described as a 'sort of farmer shell, a hollow man full of regrets and knowledge and skills he couldn’t use any more …' There are skeletons in this family’s closet and secrets that are known within the community but not within the family. When a catastrophic accident occurs the family dynamics change. Then there are rumours of who was to blame but who really knows the truth? This novel is very realistic and Orr has a unique style and authenticity that draws the reader into this harsh reality. Recommended reading.
Author Stephen Orr has nailed all the characters - I can visualise and hear them all. Murray is described as a 'sort of farmer shell, a hollow man full of regrets and knowledge and skills he couldn’t use any more …' There are skeletons in this family’s closet and secrets that are known within the community but not within the family. When a catastrophic accident occurs the family dynamics change. Then there are rumours of who was to blame but who really knows the truth? This novel is very realistic and Orr has a unique style and authenticity that draws the reader into this harsh reality. Recommended reading.
August 27, 2024
As a newcomer to Australia, I have wondered how the experience of outback pastoralists compares to the challenges of American and Canadian farmers and ranchers. Orr has answered many of my questions about the devastating impact of the country's fabled droughts. The family dynamics are as challenging and troubled as they are anywhere land held for generations is at stake. In this novel they are complicated by a tragic accident and its aftermath. Well written and sure to send me to more of this talented author's books.
June 7, 2017
A compelling novel about family relationships and the hardships of living on an outback cattle station in rural South Australia.
June 8, 2018
Quite a good story, however the author only really scratched the surface of these characters.
January 16, 2017
I am fascinated by all things Australian. Australia is the last frontier. This book is set on a cattle station that is failing. The drought doesn’t end and the banks refuse to lend any more to the failing station. The cattle are all ribs without adequate vegetation.
Three generations of Wilkies live on the station. The oldest Wilkie holds the deed and refuses to sell. He has no intention of giving up what his forefathers created. The station has been in family hands forever. His son wants to move on and leave. The younger boys are trapped at the station and are trying to make sense of their lives. The boys are free to roam the world's biggest backyard but have nowhere to go.
This is a really good, well written book. I bought it on my Kindle.
Three generations of Wilkies live on the station. The oldest Wilkie holds the deed and refuses to sell. He has no intention of giving up what his forefathers created. The station has been in family hands forever. His son wants to move on and leave. The younger boys are trapped at the station and are trying to make sense of their lives. The boys are free to roam the world's biggest backyard but have nowhere to go.
This is a really good, well written book. I bought it on my Kindle.
June 23, 2016
Three generations struggling to keep a cattle station in the far outback desert country of Australia viable.
The patriarch who wont let go, stubborn and blinkered, his son trying to keep the cattle alive and the farm afloat when his father disagrees with everything he is offering and his sons facing their uncertain future both on the land and in the family dynamic after the accident. This must be happening in many farms with more than one generation trying to live together - the old way versus progress and the inevitable changes that must take place to keep properties productive and viable and the bankers at bay.
Fabulous sense of place, I can feel the dust in my eyes and smell the dirt, this book is well worth it's place on the Franklin long list for 2016.
The patriarch who wont let go, stubborn and blinkered, his son trying to keep the cattle alive and the farm afloat when his father disagrees with everything he is offering and his sons facing their uncertain future both on the land and in the family dynamic after the accident. This must be happening in many farms with more than one generation trying to live together - the old way versus progress and the inevitable changes that must take place to keep properties productive and viable and the bankers at bay.
Fabulous sense of place, I can feel the dust in my eyes and smell the dirt, this book is well worth it's place on the Franklin long list for 2016.
May 2, 2016
Worthy nominee for the Miles Franklin Award. So well written that it could be one of many outback families. If it was set in the Midwest of USA, it would present some very similar dilemas.. I love this book, but it's not for everybody. If you loved Shotgun Lovesongs you might love this one.
June 5, 2016
Set on a dry pastoral run held in one family for generations Orr details the harsh abrasive landscape as it abrades and corrodes the family holding on :Murray, an old bastard, holder of the land's title, and his son Trevor, who wants a different story's ending for his own sons.Raw, powerful and uncomfortable at times, the inner voices of the children, especially,illuminate a power struggle with devastating consequences.
August 10, 2016
I really enjoy reading Australian outback stories and this didn't disappoint. Having been on the land I related well to the story of drought, debt and the associated family struggles. It was not an uplifting story but that wasn't its purpose. The book kept me engaged throughout and I enjoyed it. Just loved the design of the cover with the solitary dwelling and the huge night sky.
Want to read
May 6, 2019Not a review. I learned of this book via this blog post: https://readingmattersblog.com/2019/0...
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