Bodies of Light: Winner of the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award

(Paperback)

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Jennifer Down cements her status as a leading light of Australian literary fiction in this heart-rending and intimate saga of one woman's turbulent life. So by the grace of a photograph that had inexplicably gone viral, Tony had found me. Or- he'd found Maggie. I had no way of knowing whether he was nuts or not; whether he might go to the cops. Maybe that sounds paranoid, but I don't think it's so ridiculous. People have gone to prison for much lesser things than accusations of child-killing. A quiet, small-town existence. An unexpected Facebook message, jolting her back to the past. A history she's reluctant to revisit- dark memories and unspoken trauma, warning knocks on bedroom walls, unfathomable loss. She became a new person a long time ago. What happens when buried stories are dragged into the light This epic novel from the two-time Sydney Morning Herald Young Novelist of the Year is a masterwork of tragedy and heartbreak-the story of a life in full. Sublimely wrought in devastating detail, Bodies of Light confirms Jennifer Down as one of the writers defining her generation.

Reviews

Brutal and beautifulI couldn't stop reading it. Jennifer Down is a brilliant writer.

* Victoria Hannan *

Mesmerising, uncompromising and extraordinary. A whole life is in these pages.

* Robbie Arnott *

Fierce and compelling. Downs compassion for her character, her refusal to look away from intolerable suffering, is a lesson for us all. A novel with immense dignity and heart.

* Carrie Tiffany *
'Bodies of Light is Jennifer Downs third book and her best yetA brilliant, sharply observed and deeply affecting epic that secures Downs status as one of the best writers in Australia today. * Books+Publishing *
A remarkably empathic booka life that the reader cannot deny. * Declan Fry, Guardian *
A story of a womans remarkable resilience, the possibility of human kindness, and the necessity of hopeIntelligently, tenderly restrained. * Australian Book Review *
'Down is reframing altogether the way that difficult life events can be written about and can be rendered artistically without becoming manipulative or sensationalisedAn incredibly propulsive bookI gobbled it up. * Patrick Carey, RN Bookshelf *
There is no other release in 2021 that I would recommend more passionately to almost every reader. Bodies of Light is so full of beauty and hope, not least because Down is an incredibly accomplished writer, who manages to plunge the reader into time and place with astonishing depth and assuredness The care that Down takes to give us trauma that feels genuinethough sometimes uncomfortably someans that Bodies of Light remains a grounded and satisfying read. By striving for authenticity and for hopefulness in its depiction of Maggies chequered existence, Downs novel avoids the opera of trauma for titillation, instead serving what feels like fidelity, understanding and dignity. * Matilda Dixon-Smith, Meanjin *
It should come as no surprise that Jennifer Down has delivered another gem. But Bodies of Light is streets ahead of her earlier work, bringing the sophistication and craft of her short stories together with her keen insight into the ways we all yearn for connection, and the things that keep us apartHeartbreaking as it may be, this novel is so rich with the details, both visceral and true, of Josies life that it will be deeply felt by everyone who reads it. * Bec Kavanagh, Readings Monthly *
Mesmerising, brutal and unforgettable. * Laura Brading, Sydney Morning Herald *
A sweeping, intensely immersive novel. * Kill Your Darlings *
'This is an absolute staggering, heart in your mouth read. While often brutal--the main character, Maggie, is confronting the trauma wrought from being a ward of the state for all of her childhood--the writing is shot through with light. I don't think I've read anything that so viscerally writes the body on the page. Calling into question notions of identity, invisibility, sexuality, trauma and belonging, Maggie's relationship with her own body and the bodies of others is devastating and sublime. I could not put this down. * Molly Murn, Matilda Bookshop *
An ambitious novel that explores the psychological fallout of a life that has gone wrong from the start...Down is one of Australias most promising young writers. * Stephen Romei, Saturday Paper *
'Bodies of Light is an assured second novel, from the mind of a writer who has taken the time to really think through what she wants to express in a novel, and how she wants the reader to feel as they go through it...It is laden with emotions and gorgeous images and is unafraid of sentimentality. Reading this book is like getting sucked up into a blanket, and when you emerge out of the cocoon, the world around you looks a bit different. Or maybe, you look at it differently, with a bit more care, I think. * Madeleine Gray, Sydney Review of Books *
ExtraordinaryTender and spiky, evocative and engrossing, this gorgeous novel will break your heart and linger in your brain. * Jo Case, InDaily *
[Down] takes her skills to new heights with the stunning Bodies of LightIts a major achievement, and is exactly my kind of Great Australian Novel. * Alison Huber, Readings Monthly *
'Overwhelmingly affecting and empathic, at times surprisingly hopeful, this is a remarkable read and one of our favourite books of the year. * WellRead *
Staggering in its scope, encompassing half a century of life lived by its magnetic and mystifying central character...Down balances [the] darkness with small moments of beauty, rendering Maggies complex, harrowing life with grace, humanity and hope...A dignified documentation bearing witness to a life both quiet and immense, Bodies of Light is Downs strongest work yet. * Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen, Age *
Exquisitely written and extraordinarily tender. * RNZ Nine to Noon *
A heartbreaking story that confronts you with an honest and compelling narrative and a flawed, complex female protagonist who endures more than you think possible. Gripping, tender and thought provoking, Bodies of Light leaves you wanting more. * Byron Shire Echo *
An epic Bildungsroman that honours the dignity of crafting a life in the wake of childhood trauma. * Yves Rees, ABR Books of the Year 2021 *
A truly beautiful modern Australian novelone that grabs hold of you the second you enter it, and absolutely will not let you go Jennifer Down is clearly one of Australias best young novelists An epic and transformative novel, the journey through which changes you as the reader, and also your understandings of the world. [Down] takes such intense trauma and pain that her character suffers and turns it into a lovely magnificenceIt was a privilege to have read this book; someone please wipe my mind so I can do it all over again. * James Blackwell, Overland *
The most moving book Ive read over the past few years. This is a wonderful, sad and hugely empathetic book and Im so glad I read it. * Ellen Cregan, Kill Your Darlings *
A story of one persons life, and at the same time, a reflection of the numerous lives we all lead. The book contains themes that are often depicted in a simplistic, gratuitous way but Down presents them with tenderness and grace, and as someone living with the ongoing effects of trauma I found the experience of reading this extremely validating and moving. She has created characters that feel so real I realised I was delaying the final chapter because I didnt want to say goodbye. * Deidre Fidge, Kill Your Darlings *
Remarkable, brutal[A] detailed, carefully observed, tenderness-and-rage study of childhood on the edge. * Kate Evans, RN Bookshelf *

Author Bio

Jennifer Down is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in the Age, Saturday Paper, Australian Book Review and Literary Hub. She was named a Sydney Morning Herald Young Novelist of the Year consecutively in 2017 and 2018. Our Magic Hour, her debut novel, was shortlisted for the 2014 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript. Her second book, Pulse Points, was the winner of the 2018 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction and the 2018 Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection in the Queensland Literary Awards, and was shortlisted for a 2018 NSW Premier's Literary Award. She lives in Naarm/Melbourne.