I’m interested in stories that take on the complexity of human character and behaviour in ways that are compassionate, wise and ultimately hopeful. That’s why I read, that’s why I write.
The Cane
Set four weeks after the disappearance of a young girl, The Cane expands on some of the themes explored in Maryrose’s award-winning essay ‘Well Before Dark’.
The North Queensland landscape, dominated by sugar cane fields, provides the backdrop to this story of a community in the aftermath of a terrible crime and amid the political and social upheaval of the 1970s.
The Vietnam War is dragging on and the domino theory of communism’s progression holds sway. Mass demonstrations in opposition to Australia’s involvement in the war and the South African rugby tour have recently erupted across the country. Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch rails against women’s devitalisation and the little red school book offers teenagers frank information about sex and drugs.
For the politically conservative, it’s an unsettling and anxious time. The disappearance of a young girl as the sugar crush is about to begin is further proof of society's fracturing.
The Cane explores the push and pull of the transition to adulthood and the legacy of repeated desecration in a time of great change.
About Maryrose
Maryrose Cuskelly is a writer of fiction and non-fiction.
She is the best-selling author of The Cane (Allen & Uwin 2022), shortlisted for best debut in the 2023 Davitt Awards.
In 2019, her book Wedderburn: A True Tale of Blood and Dust (Allen & Unwin, 2018), was longlisted for Best Debut and Best True Crime in the 2019 Davitt Awards.
In 2016, she was awarded the New England Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing (non-fiction) for her essay on the 1972 abduction and murder of Marilyn Wallman.
She is the author of Original Skin: Exploring the Marvels of the Human Hide (Scribe 2010) and The End of Charity: Time for Social Enterprise (Allen & Unwin 2008) co-written with Nic Frances, and winner of the Iremonger Award for Writing on Public Issues.
Her essays and articles have been published in a range of magazines, journals, and newspapers, including Crikey, The Age, The Australian and The Melbourne Magazine.
She has twice been awarded fellowships at Varuna, the National Writers’ House, most recently in 2020 for her novel The Campers, which will be published by Allen & Unwin in early 2025.