A Far-flung Life

Brought to you by Penguin.

The mesmeric new novel from the author of the award-winning global bestseller, THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS

Western Australia, 1958. A truck rumbles along a lonely outback road. A moment’s inattention, and in a few muddled seconds the lives of the MacBride family are shattered.

Instead of leaving them to heal, fate comes back for them in a twist of consequences that will cause one of them to lose their life, and another to sacrifice theirs for the sake of an innocent child.

Set in the expanse of a vast and flat landscape, where the weather is a capricious god and a million-acre sheep station is barely a dot on the map, A Far-flung Life explores the hearts of a handful of isolated souls and the secrets they shield in order to survive.

Capturing a family, a community, a generation, M L Stedman tells of the many ways humans can do each other wrong and how we move on when things can’t be put right. With shimmering prose and a delicious wit, the mysteries of being human are laid bare in this hopeful meditation on time and resilience and the lengths we go to to protect what we love.

Praise for The Light Between Oceans:

'An extraordinary book...Unforgettable' Guardian
'A moving tale . . . prepare to weep' New York Times
‘A moving tale. One of this year's must-reads’ Stylist Magazine

© M L Stedman 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025