“Amid the chaos of sweeping bushfires, Persia gives birth alone at home with tragic consequences. Traumatised and grieving, she travels north, and encounters Ahmed, a refugee fleeing deportation and his past in Pakistan.”

So begins a road trip to the dead heart of Australia, a journey that transcends the limits of ordinary experience. In Persia and Ahmed’s world, ancient winds wreak havoc across generations, lightning ignites flames that both destroy and rejuvenate, and water drowns then delivers.

Lightning is an odyssey that crosses continents and centuries, exploring identity, connection and our yearning to reveal ourselves even when cloaked in crippling grief. A moving meditation on finding hope in the rubble of our lives, Lightning celebrates the way our stories and their telling keep us alive when all else is pulling us under.”

Local author Felicity Volk released her first novel early in July, following the success and awards from her collections of short stories. Felicity studied English literature and law at the University of Queensland before joining Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. After diplomatic postings in Bangladesh and Laos, and following the birth of her two daughters, she began writing for publication.

With fellowships from the Eleanor Dark Foundation (Varuna – the Writers’ Centre) and a grant from Arts ACT, Felicity wrote a collection of short stories – several of which have won awards – and her first novel, this 376 page epic read! She is now working on her second novel.

Felicity has a way with language that transports you to a time where you may have experienced a similar feeling. The first page of the novel describes the winds that remind me of a hot summer when I was 15. The following is an extract describing the mad winds;

“They flapped through the city with dervish destruction, kicking up dirt, ripping washing from lines, scattering newspapers along the parkways, tugging at hair, leaving grit in the mouth and at the corners of eyes.  The winds whistled to one another from each edge of the city, twisting, writhing, gusting, making dogs bay and snarl at undisclosed threats, cats flatten themselves to the ground and domesticated birds beat themselves against the wire of their cages. At night, people who had been caught on the streets during the fury would blow the brown dust of these gales into tissues.”

When I read this the cold wintery air around me dissolved as my memory of those days took over…that’s what the talented Felicity Volk does, she draws you into the story.