A Far-flung Life by M.L. Stedman
“Some gates close off every other path you could possibly take. A single moment in your past denies you a future: condemning you to a death in life.”
What happens when your life falls apart? Not just once, but over and over again? When you’re constantly reminded of your mistakes? When there is no true way to atone for these mistakes?
In her first novel in over a decade, M.L. Stedman seeks to answer these questions in the epic family saga, A Far-Flung Life.
A Family Marked by Tragedy in Western Australia
The book centers on the MacBride family of Meredith Downs, a million-acre sheep station in western Australia. Do not call it a sheep farm—the MacBride family has leased the acreage from the Australian government for centuries, and they are not farmers. They are pastoralists, and there is a difference.
The MacBrides are also well-respected. Unfortunately, they are also pitied because tragedy befalls their family over and over again. But such is life in the Outback. It isn’t unheard of, and life, unfortunately, moves on.
But this story is also about grief and what we do with that grief.
The story begins as Philip, the patriarch, drives to Wanderrie Creek with his two sons, Warren and Matt. He swerves to miss a kangaroo, and Phil and Warren are killed instantly. Matt lives but is forever changed. Lorna, the matriarch, and Rosie, Philip and Lorna’s daughter, are also affected—not just by the deaths of Philip and Warren, but in ways they will never begin to imagine.
A historical epic novel told in three sections, there was so much to love about A Far-Flung Life. I appreciated the attention to detail. I also appreciated the characterization of each person that was woven into the story. In fact, Meredith Downs felt like a character of its own by the end of the book.
Pete Peachey was my favorite character. The local “roo shooter,” who is a past POW from a Japanese internment camp in WWII, is steadfast in his convictions, a great friend to the MacBrides and a bit mysterious. He’s a bit of a loner and would rather live in a tent on Meredith Downs than in traditional housing.
An Epic Meditation on Redemption
Readers may be familiar with M.L. Stedman’s work, as she is the author of the wildly popular historical novel The Light Between Oceans, which spent 76 weeks on the USA Today best-seller list. It also won various awards, including the Indie Book Awards (2013): Book of the Year Award, Debut Fiction and the Goodreads Choice Awards (2013): Best Historical Fiction. This is her first work since The Light Between Oceans.
M.L. Stedman is an Australian-born author, now living in London. Before becoming a writer, she worked in London as a lawyer.
If you’ve been wondering why there was such a wide expanse of time between her novels, Stedman states, “I wrote the story over a very, very long time, and it just sort of grew and took shape organically over years. Characters turned up bit by bit, out of nowhere: they might be prompted by seeing a face or hearing a phrase, or sometimes, they just materialized when I started to imagine a scene. The process is quite mysterious to me.”
As someone who loved The Light Between Oceans, A Far-Flung Life did not disappoint.
By the end of the novel, it felt like a tragedy.
“If you want to drown yourself in poison or some bloody thing, I can’t stop you—you’ll find a way. But if you do … you’ll never know what you missed out on.”
About M.L. Stedman:
M.L. Stedman was born and raised in Western Australia and now lives in London. The Light Between Oceans was her first novel. A Far-flung Life is her second novel.
