A new literary voice has emerged from the Mid North Coast, with Fiona Preston releasing her debut novel, Beneath the Wild Fig Tree. The book follows the journey of a young woman grappling with her family’s complicated past while standing at a turning point in her own life.
Set across Sydney, Adelaide, and Tasmania in 1984 and 2000, the story takes root beneath a fig tree on the Mid North Coast. “I wanted to craft strong characters and a vivid sense of place that honours Australia’s magnificence,” said Fiona Preston. The cover of the novel features the short-tailed shearwater, a bird whose remarkable migration from the Arctic to the Antarctic passes along this coastline.
Early reviews for Beneath the Wild Fig Tree are promising. Anna Iltnere from The Sea Library Magazine described it as “an engrossing and vivid novel brimming with compassion for nature.” A Canadian reviewer praised the book’s evocative prose, stating: “The writing is poetic in imagery and sweeps you into the story as if you were there. It is a beautiful story of fractured family relationships, woven slowly and gently, until you can see the tender humanity of each thread in the telling.” On Goodreads a reviewer stated, “This is probably the most beautifully written novel I’ve read all year.”
Beyond its captivating narrative, the book also stands out for its beautifully designed interior, making it an ideal Christmas gift for book lovers.
Beneath the Wild Fig Tree is available now at Coffs Book Warehouse.