A Far-flung Life

Western Australia, 1958: here, for generations, the MacBrides have lived on a remote sheep station, Meredith Downs. A million acres, it’s an ocean of arid land.

On an ordinary day, on a lonely road, under the unending blue sky, patriarch Phil MacBride swerves to avoid a kangaroo. In seconds, the lives of the entire MacBride family are shattered.

Then, instead of leaving them to heal, fate comes back for them in a twist of consequences that will cause one of them to lose their life, and another to sacrifice theirs for the sake of an innocent child.

Matt, the youngest MacBride, is plunged into a moral and emotional journey for which there is no map, no guide, as he is forced to choose between love and duty, sacrifice and happiness.

Through the lives of a handful of isolated souls, each, for private reasons, seeking shelter from the storm of life, A Far-flung Life explores the nature of belonging, resilience and the private heart.

From the author of the acclaimed international bestseller The Light Between Oceans comes a breathtaking and epic novel set in the vast outback of Australia - about fate and family, time and memory, and the enduring power of love.

‘A big, bold story of tragedy and resilience. I was completely swept away.’ BONNIE GARMUS

'Heart-wrenching and beautifully set. A gorgeous feast of a novel about family, community, love and the lengths we will go to save them all.’ RACHEL JOYCE

‘Truly a masterpiece. The kind of book you will remember for the rest of your life, and I love the very bones of it.’ JOANNA CANNON

'M.L. Stedman's new novel A Far-flung Life was well-worth the wait. Epic, grand, intimate and aching, it is a novel that carries its secrets in hidden places, burying its wounds in the vast, empty landscape of Western Australia and in the broken hearts of its characters. I loved it.' MIRANDA COWLEY HELLER