The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane

Book Blurb

In September 1883, a small town in the South Australian outback huddles under strange, vivid sunsets. Six-year-old Denny Wallace has gone missing during a dust storm, and the entire community is caught up in the search for him. As they scour the desert and mountains for the lost child, the residents of Fairly – newlyweds, landowners, farmers, mothers, artists, Indigenous trackers, cameleers, children, schoolteachers, widows, maids, policemen – confront their relationships with each other and with the ancient landscape they inhabit.

The colonial Australia of The Sun Walks Down is unfamiliar, multicultural, and noisy with opinions, arguments, longings and terrors. It’s haunted by many gods – the sun among them, rising and falling on each day in which Denny could be found, or lost forever.

My Review
The Sun Walks Down is a beautifully written historical novel set in late nineteenth century Australia. The focus is on the search for Denny, a six year old boy who gets disoriented in a dust storm and gets lost. As the community gathers and the search starts we learn more about the people who live there, their lives and their hopes and fears.

The Sun Walks Down is a real slow burner of a novel with the search for the missing boy the catalyst for learning more about the characters who live in the small town of Fairley. The characters really made this novel for me, their diversity, their strength of character and their adaptibility to the hostile environment of late nineteenth century Australian outback. Denny’s parents came from England, Mary with her father who was a vicar and Matthew looking for a new life. With five daughters life is hard, the land is dry and stoney making it difficult to grow anything. Cissy, the second oldest daughter was my favourite character. She was straddling the line between childhood and adulthood, not wanting to just sit and wait whilst the men went searching for her brother. She shows her tenacity on the search, refusing to be sidelined by the men, and a times I felt she outsmarted them. There are also the Baumann family from Germany, with Minnie relishing in her new role as a wife and the Axam’s also English. There are also Afghans and the Chinese in Australia at the time,making it such a multi cultural country, probably due to the gold rush and the hope of becoming rich. The different cultures show the diversity of life in Australia at that time, but also the problems of colonisation; the displacmemt of those native to Australia and the European immigrants presuming they know better, and wanting to bring changes like religion.

Fiona McFarlane’s writing is beautiful and poetic and what made this book such a joy to read. She writes very detailed descriptions to set the scene, the arid landscape, the dust and stoney landscape with green only appearing on the surrounding hill. The landscape was almost like another character, it played an important part in the daily lives of all who live in Fairly and is an obstical in the search for Denny, making it difficult to track him. I loved the many layers of this book, it is so much more than just the search for a young boy, it’s about a community coming together, the daily life of those who live there, and how life must go on for those who need to earn a living. This is a really slow burner, and at times I did feel it dragged a bit, but the beauty of the prose more than mad up for that small niggle.

The Sun Walks Down is a beautifully written book, detailed and poetic at times. Fiona McFarlane captures the atmosphere of this period in Australian history, peoples fears and hopes, and the difficulties of colonisation with its prejudices and sidelining of those who live there. The characters are fascinating, all having their faults but they all come together for six year old Denny showing the strength of community at times of crisis. This is a mesmerising and breathtaking read that I found utterly compelling.

I’d like to thank Sceptre Books and NetGalley for my copy of this book.