Reviews + Interviews

Reviews:

This is a performance of energy and well-placed confidence…part of the distinguished line of first novels published in Australia in the last few years. —Peter Pierce, Spectrum lift-out: Sydney Morning Herald, Canberra Times, The Age

The setting is captivating and the landscape is equally a source of beauty and benevolence as it is of potential harm… There is so much to admire in Wildlight: the skilful unravelling of the overriding mystery and the spectacular location given life. Mundy offers compelling answers to the dramatic tension she creates, even if she leaves us curious about why.  —Gretchen Shirm, Weekend Australian

[Mundy] brings the island to life—with all its beauty and dangers—in breathtaking clarity, creating both an assured coming-of-age story and an homage to an incredible place, in crystal prose. —Margot Lloyd, Adelaide Advertiser

Nature is the star of Wildlight, the evocative new novel by Robyn Mundy, in whose hands the earth and ocean and their respective creatures are celebrated and described with reverent attention.…Mundy’s prose is redolent with the sights, sounds and scents of sea and sky: clusters of mutton-birds return to nest, the air filling with the rancid smell of their oil; fisherman risk their lives to bring in their catch in violent weather. The island is not a safe or easy place… —Stephanie Jones, Auckland Coast FM

Robyn’s rich language is staggeringly visual, evoking the island’s wild coast in stark and memorable images. Her story of grief, first love and (perhaps) a murder mystery is no less striking.’ Melbourne Times Weekly

More than Romeo and Juliet, Wildlight is as much a story of finding oneself amid the terrible beauty of the natural world as it is about freeing oneself from, in Stephanie’s case, a family riven by grief and, in Tom’s, an implacable elder brother, Frank, who is both tyrant and protector.—Will Yeoman, West Australian

Mundy’s crisp prose so vividly places you on the island that I was regularly reaching for a blanket while reading Wildlight. I felt the storms racing in, and could smell the ocean, the fresh tea tree and the oily mutton-birds descend. I absolutely loved this book. When I wasn’t reading I wanted to be, but I wasn’t inclined to race through either as the experience of being there with Steph was so strong that the time I spent with her didn’t need to be rushed but gently experienced.—Suzanne Steinbruckner, Readings

Verdict: a shining light. An excellent read overall. — Herald Sun, Melbourne

Wildlight could easily be devoured in a weekend and leaves one with a longing to escape the city and explore Australia’s natural wilderness. It is a beautifully crafted story about love, human personas, remembering the past, and finding peace. — , The NSW Writers’ Centre

Interviews:

Forthcoming interviews at 

6 May 2016: Web interview, How to Become a Writer, with Annabel Smith

11 March 2016: Co-op Bookstore podcast interview with 

7 March 2016: ABC Radio National Books & Arts ‘Top Shelf’ with 

26 February 2016: ABC Sunshine Coast Mornings with 

24 February 2016: Web interview on author Amanda Curtin’s 

23 February 2016: ABC Tasmania Statewide Evenings with 

20 February 2016: Web Interview on author Greg Johnston’s 

19 February 2016: ABC Radio National Books & Arts with