The Desert Knows Her Name

Listen deeply now, if you remember how and why.

On a hot October afternoon, a girl walks barefoot out of the Wimmera desert, near the small town of Gatyekarr.
She finds sanctuary with Beth, a regenerative farmer and collector of seeds, devoted to bringing her family's farm back to life. The arrival of the mysterious 'desert girl' unsettles the community and old tensions erupt. The longer the girl stays silent, the more volatile the town becomes. Who is she and what does her presence mean?

The Desert Knows Her Name is an exquisite novel that speaks to a deep longing for connection with the land, and the silences that persist in contemporary Australia.

'Beautiful and tender. The characters live and breathe this incredible landscape. And Hills' sentences sing with deep knowledge and respect.' Inga Simpson, author of Willowman

'There is a poetic sensibility to the writing style'. - Good Reading

'Poetically told tale of land and history'. - Readings Monthly


'Gorgeous novel'. - Qantas

'Ingenious shimmer of a book'. - The Age/The Sydney Morning Herald


'Delicate and beautiful'. - News Corp

'A rare work - at once compulsively readable and deeply thought provoking'. - Organic Gardener

Lia Hills is a poet, novelist, curator and translator. Her debut novel, The Beginner's Guide to Living, was released to critical acclaim and shortlisted for the Victorian, Queensland, and Western Australian premiers' literary awards and the New Zealand Post Book Awards. It has been translated into several languages. Her second novel, The Crying Place, was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and was the Australian Independent Bookseller Book of the Month. Other works include her award-winning poetry collection, the possibility of flight, and her translation of Marie Darrieussecq's acclaimed novel, Tom is Dead. Born in Aotearoa New Zealand, Lia lives and works on Wurundjeri Country.

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