Introduction by Maurice Saxby
It’s hot, dry and sweaty on Ash Road, where Graham, Harry and Wallace are getting their first taste of independence, camping, just the three of them. When they accidentally light a bushfire no one would have guessed how far it would go. All along Ash Road fathers go off to fight the fires and mothers help in the first aid centres. The children of Prescott are left alone, presumed safe, until it’s the fire itself that reaches them. These children are forced to face a major crisis with only each other and the two old men left in their care.
The best selling Ash Road is an action-packed adventure story, so evocative of rural Australia you can taste the Eucalyptus.
‘The description of the fire and the atmosphere of the day are so vividly described…deservedly classic story.’
‘Ivan Southall’s Ash Road was one of the first Australian books to immerse readers in the experience of being caught in a bushfire in all its sensory detail; its publication in 1965 affected readers and fellow authors alike.’
‘The novel is a chronicle of fire and panic, of intense and remarkable perception, and of almost inexhaustibly vivid descriptive language… unforgettable.’