Description of book
Catastrophe can turn a comfortable life inside out and leave any one of us stranded, dependent on the kindness of strangers, or vulnerable to their cruelty - as the characters in this sensuous and moving novel discover.
Set in a mining town in the Australian outback, NIGHTS IN THE ASYLUM is the story of three people seeking shelter. Stricken with grief and guilt following the death of her daughter, Miri flees the city for the quiet calm of Havana Gardens, a once fine but now dilapidated mansion built for her grandmother. On the road, she rescues Aziz, an Afghan refugee on the run from detention; then, in the attic of the old house, Miri discovers Suzette Moran and her baby daughter hiding, and grants them refuge.
Slowly, in the hot confined spaces of the house, the three runaways unravel their stories, but when Suzette's policeman husband comes looking for her, it sparks a chain of events that will disrupt their already fragile peace.
Reviews
... a remarkable novel, measured and meditative, sensual and seductive. Lefevre writes with an assured and convincing integrity, revealing her characters layer by layer, like the peeling away of an onion skin. ... Crossing the barriers of language and culture it is, above all, about hope, and love, and faith, the kind of faith that transcends borders or religions, and reminds us that we are all humans. Petra Fromm, Wet Ink Magazine
“NIGHTS IN THE ASYLUM has some wonderfully realised moments that explore the complexity of lives under pressure. Its central mother-daughter relationship makes this a good literary read for Mother’s Day”. Shane Strange, Australian Bookseller + Publisher
“Lefevre conjures a beautiful, subtle, insightful story”.
MX magazine
“ The achievement of the novel is to give shape to and find language for a drama of change that is inward as much as vividly external, that is fired by cores of love and justice as much as wanton pressures of lust, prejudice or violence. And then to conclude with the subtle balance of timeless moments.
Nicholas Jose, Professor of Creative Writing, University of Adelaide