{"product_id":"9781741146219-secondhand-road-story","title":"Road Story","description":"WINNER,  Australian \/Vogel Literary Award  SHORTLISTED, Western Australian Fiction Award   SHORTLISTED, Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Best First Book Award Diana Kooper runs from a car crash in the heart of Sydney, scarcely looking back, leaving her best friend, Nicole, slumped and bloody in the damaged vehicle. After hitching a ride to the far west of New South Wales, Diana takes a job as a kitchenhand at Bob's, an isolated truck-stop. At first she thinks she can predict the sort of rhythm her life will follow in this dusty, diesel-driven, lonely stop but soon a series of unsettling events disturb the order of things. A dog is brutally stabbed to death and left as a warning beside one of the petrol bowsers. And when Bob rolls his ute in suspicious circumstances, Diana is left to look after the roadhouse kitchen on her own. As every-day life becomes increasingly challenging, Diana struggles with her past and with the ghosts that haunt her present. Road Story  is a remarkable novel that reveals the tenuousness of love between friends and the dark pervasiveness of addiction. PRAISE FROM  THE AUSTRALIAN \/VOGEL LITERARY AWARD JUDGES 'Compelling. the truckers, their habits, their rigs and their nonchalant ferocity come at you. She opens a window into the grit and diesel fumes of road-centred lives.' -  Stella Clare 'A very genuine voice with a strong sense of authenticity and a rising sense of menace.' -  Liam Davison 'Raw, direct and passionate, the assurance of van Loon's novel should distract no-one from the integrity and the intelligence which give weight to it.' -  James Bradley ","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48748249579739,"sku":"9781741146219-SECONDHAND","price":10.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/5c1b344d-d1be-49c0-b06e-f6cd0c35b06b.jpg?v=1778041209","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/9781741146219-secondhand-road-story","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}