An elliptical and beautifully evoked contemporary coming-of-age story from newcomer Jay Carmichael. Quietly compelling and stylistically assured, Ironbark examines the life of a young man, Markus, who is struggling to come to terms with his sexuality while living in a tiny, drought-ridden town in rural Australia. Shortlisted for the 2016 Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award He shouldn't have a life he never asked for and be expected to love men. With their problems never spoken outward. And childhood trauma and family issues. Men wanting to be held or hold. Markus Bello's life has stalled. Living in a small country town, mourning the death of his best friend, Grayson, Markus is isolated and adrift. As time passes, and life continues around him, Markus must try to face his grief, and come to terms with what is left. Stylistically assured and quietly compelling, Ironbark is an elliptical and beautifully evoked contemporary coming-of-age story. Through his protagonist, Markus, newcomer Jay Carmichael depicts the conflict and confusion of life as a gay man in rural Australia, and explores how place can shape personal identity by both offering and restricting potential. A moving portrait of grief and loss, Ironbark is also a devastating account of the toll exacted by our society's expectations of what it means to be a man.

Ironbark

Literature & Fiction

Carmichael, Jay

Literary

Scribe US

The stunning new novel from the author of Ironbark. It's the 1950s in conservative Australia, and Christopher, a young gay man, moves to "the City" to escape the repressive atmosphere of his tiny hometown. Once there, however, he finds that it is just as censorial and punitive, in its own way. Then Christopher meets Morgan, and the two fall in love--a love that breathes truth back into Christopher's stifled life. But the society around them remains rigid and unchanging, and what begins as a refuge for both men inevitably buckles under the intensity of navigating a world that wants them to refuse what they are. Will their devotion be enough to keep them together? In reviving a time that is still so recent yet so vastly different from now, Jay Carmichael has drawn on archival material, snippets of newspaper articles, and photos to create the claustrophobic environment in which these two men lived and loved. Told with Carmichael's ear for sparse, poetic beauty, Marlo takes us into the landscape of a relationship defined as much by what is said and shared as by what has to remain unsaid.

Marlo

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Books by Carmichael, Jay

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Carmichael, Jay. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Ironbark

Marlo