Pobby and Dingan by Ben Rice

Pobby and Dingan

Ben Rice

A short story about a little girl's imaginary friends may not appeal to everyone, but don't be put off. This is a remarkable book, moving, profound and yet easy to read. Opal miners in the outback are an unlikely setting for this strange and touching fable about faith and redemption. The Australian mining community is so vividly described, it's hard to believe it is a debut novel from an Englishman.

Extract
Well, all this started to rattle my mind, and every day I would wriggle through the car door and clamber up on to my bunk and sit thinking. I figured this was the end of the world because we were all going crazy. Pobby and Dingan were messing up my family and they weren't even here. And they also weren't even anywhere. And though I thought my sister was nuts, I didn't like to see her like this and hear her chucking up in the dunny.
Parallels
  • Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
  • Glory Days by Joyce Mandeville
  • Shiralee by D'arcy Niland
Borrow this book