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Joy Rhoades
Photo Credit: © Phil Wilson


Joy Rhoades was born in Roma in western Queensland, with an early memory of flat country and a broad sky. Growing up, she loved two things best: reading and the bush, whether playing in creek beds and paddocks, or climbing a tree to sit with a book. Her family would visit her grandmother, a fifth generation grazier and a gentle teller of stories of her life on her family’s sheep farm.

At 13, Joy left Roma for Brisbane, first for school and then to study law at university. After graduating, she worked all over: first Sydney, then London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and New York. It was in New York that she completed a Masters in Creative Writing at the New School University, and wrote much of her first book, The Woolgrower's Companion, a novel inspired in part by snippets of her grandmother’s life and times.

She now lives in London with her husband and their two young children, but she misses the Australian sky. She is the author of two novels, The Woolgrower's Companion and The Burnt Country.

Books by Joy Rhoades

The Burnt Country

The Burnt Country is an enthralling story of integrity, resilience and resistance, from the author of the bestselling The Woolgrower’s Companion.

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The Woolgrower's Companion

Set over ten tumultuous months in 1945, The Woolgrower's Companion is the gripping story of one woman’s fight against all odds, and a sweeping tribute to Australia's landscape and its people.

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More features

Video
The Burnt Country by Joy Rhoades

The Burnt Country is an enthralling story of integrity, resilience and resistance, from the author of the bestselling The Woolgrower’s Companion. Learn More: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-burnt-country-9780143793724

Article
Tales from the bush

Joy Rhoades on bushfires, orphan wallaroos, life in 1948 and researching her new book, The Burnt Country.

Article
The Burnt Country book club notes

Take your book club back in time, with this enthralling story from the author of The Woolgrower’s Companion.

Article
The emergence of story

Joy Rhoades on the research behind The Woolgrower’s Companion.

Article
Companion notes

Share Joy Rhoades’ heart-breaking story of love, prejudice and war.