The Great Undoing

(Paperback)

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WINNER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND FICTION BOOK AWARD

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COURIER-MAIL PEOPLE'S CHOICE QUEENSLAND BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

Sharlene Allsopps The Great Undoing is groundbreaking storytelling truth telling that pierces the readers heart as it asks: how do you interpretsilence The breathtaking scope of this beautifully-written debut novel, and its unique, ambitious and powerful navigation of the contested borders between history andfiction, truth and lie, archive and heresy, will stay with me. It's the kind of book that, after reading, makes you want to write to the author to say: THANK YOU. - Holly Ringland, author of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding

Sharlene Allsopp's debut novel is a remarkable achievement. Through the art of great storytelling she challenges us to respond to a threat to our very existence; our understanding of who we are, where we come from and the knowledge systems that will bind us into the future.The Great Undoingis a book for all time our past, present, and an increasingly precarious future. - Tony Birch, author of The White Girl and Women & Children

How long can you run from a lie, if that lie is what your life is founded on

In a near future all identity information is encoded in digital language. Nations know where everyone is, all the time. Not everyone agrees with this constant surveillance, and when the system is hijacked and shut down, all global borders are closed. The world is no longer connected, and there is no back-up plan to establish belonging, ownership or trade.

Scarlet Friday, whose job is to correct historical record, is stranded on the wrong side of the globe. Befriended by a stranger, she grabs an old, faded history book and writes her own version over the topa record of the Great Undoing on the run.

But in deciding what truth to tell Scarlet must face her own history. How do we navigate identity when it is all a lie She must reckon with her past before she can imagine her future.

PRAISE FOR THE GREAT UNDOING:

It's risky and ambitious. And, for me, that ambition pays off. ABC Arts

her ambitious storytelling is not something that undermines or detracts from the vitality of Allsop's novel. This is a work of fiction that takes a risk, that gives us too much - that gives us, in other words, the illusion of containing everything in Scarlet's world. Sydney Morning Herald

For First Nations people, Australia is a nation founded on a lie. But this is not one single amorphous lie, but rather a web of lies that seeks to erase and make invisible First Nations peoples, her/histories and experiences. In her debut novel,The Great Undoing, Bundjalung author Sharlene Allsopp deftly juxtaposes the national and the personal mythscapes that still haunt Australia today. Through the larger-than-life character of Scarlet Friday, Sharlene explores the consequences of living a lie in a nation that refuses to acknowledge its past.- Jeanine Leane, author of Purple Threads and Walk Back Over

Now more than ever, we need truth-teller Scarlet Friday and her story of identity, disruption, and love. The Great Undoing is a complex thriller, and a stunning debut novel by Sharlene Allsopp. - Anita Heiss, author ofBila YarrudhanggalangdhurayandBarbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms

The Great Undoing is a gripping novel that blurs the lines between historical and contemporary fiction; between reality and fantasy, and will make you question everything you think you know about Australia. - Melanie Saward, author of Burn

Sharlene Allsopp has created a work of fearless generosity that charts the progress of a future undoing, tugging at the seams of both personal and societal remembering.The Great Undoingis a story to be lingered inside of, dog-eared, gifted and cherished. - The Wheeler Centre

'A bold, imaginative and elegantly crafted novel that weaves a page-turning plot with a poignant exploration of how our histories are told and by whom.The Great Undoingis a triumph Allsopp has such a strong voice, and her writing is rich with insight and empathy.'- Carody Culver, editor of Griffith Review

Powerful and beautiful, The Great Undoing is an intelligent, heartfelt exploration of the complexities of belonging and recorded history. You wont be able to put this book down. - Mirandi Riwoe, award-winning author of Stone Sky Gold Mountain and Sunbirds

The Great Undoing is a remarkable book - Books + Publishing

Reviews

Sharlene Allsoppthe writer, who is so easily confused with Scarlet, is a prodigious storyteller who has crafted a truly intellectual feat in this novel. She plays with the genre, turning it inside out to see what she can do with it, and she does a great deal. TheGreat Undoingchallenges us to come to grips with history in so many ways. It is a believable story. It is creative fiction writing at its best. It provides us with a glimpse into the kind of dystopian future that is as probable as it is improbable. It is also a taste of more to come from an amazing writing talent. * The Australian *
Its an inventive premise: Scarlets entries not only trace their journey, but also unpick Scotts version of history, and some of the more sinister lies about Australias colonial past. Factor in, too, some family reckonings, a swooning romcom and abundant love notes to literature. Sharlene Allsopp has burning points to make about the policing of belonging and exclusion then, now and onwards. * The Guardian *
The Great Undoing is an exciting work of Aboriginal speculative fiction with plenty of heart to spare. * ABC Arts *
It is a techno-futuristic thriller, broadening the horizons of Indigenous storytelling that flirt with tropes of genre fiction; it is a parable for the imperative of truth-telling for Australia today * Sydney Morning Herald *
'Sharlene Allsopp's The Great Undoing is a remarkable book that reaches back into the early 20th century and forwards into the future to examine discontinuities in recorded histories, and the resonances of this within the lives of First Nations people. Allsopp's style is lyrical and almost poetic, even when describing ugliness. The Great Undoing joins the works of authors like Octavia Butler and Claire G Coleman, who use the light of what could be to illuminate what actually is.' * Books + Publishing *

Author Bio

Sharlene Allsopp was born and raised on Bundjalung Country into the Olive mob. She dreams of capturing that elusive perfect sentencepreferably liquored up in a Champagne field in France. She studied Writing and Literature at the University of Queensland, and loves her role as an occasional tutor with the Indigenous Tutorial Assistance and Retention Program on campus.
She developed her debut novel as a fellow with The Wheeler Centres Next Chapter program. In its early stages, this novel was shortlisted for a 2019 Overland writing residency, and Highly Commended for the 2020 Boundless Indigenous Writers Mentorship.
She helped establish a charity for domestic violence survivors, and currently lives in Meanjin/Brisbane with her husband, sons and daughters, and a fluffy ball of puppy called Morty.