The Multiple Effects Of Rainshadow

• This May, Text will concurrently publish four Text Classics by the prolific and highly awarded Thea Astley • As with previous suites of Text Classics by Randolph Stow, Christina Stead, Amy Witting and Robin Klein, the concurrent publication of these four Astley novels demonstrates Text’s belief in the importance of this author • Astley is among the most significant Australian woman writers of the twentieth century—typified by her ironic style and her social consciousness, particularly of the injustices faced by indigenous Australians • At the time of her death in 2004, she held the record for the most Miles Franklin Literary Award wins by one author, a record she now jointly holds with Tim Winton • Collectively these four works of fiction are an opportunity for readers to rediscover parts of Astley’s catalogue that have been unjustly out-of-print, guided by two established and two emerging contemporary Australian woman authors • The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow won the Age Book of the Year when first published in 1996 • The novel traces the lead-up to and aftermath of a bloody showdown when the superintendent of a Queensland mission goes on a murderous rampage in 1930 • This Text Classics edition will be introduced by the author of the NSW, Victorian and Queensland Premiers’ Literary Awards-winning The Tall Man, Chloe Hooper