Jackson Sweeney is stewing in his tiny hometown, feeling stuck. He spends his days working at Al’s Takeaway and his nights at the local dive pub, scouting for a guy he hasn’t pashed yet. His childhood friend Marnie returns to Ginsborough on her family’s annual visit, but she’s reeling from a break-up and is determined to lie low. After all, nothing happens in this part of the world.
But then one night an odd-looking stranger shows up: he has long black hair, a leather trench coat and the improbable name of Bootstrap. What’s more, he says he’s here to see the night Jackson Sweeney becomes a hero.
Soon, Sweeney and Marnie find themselves swept up in an adventure they never could have dreamt of—with a fugitive on the run from the future. Both a thrilling race against time and a witty contemporary love story, Bootstrap is the genre-bending new novel from the brilliant Georgina Young.
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‘There is vibrancy and energy in each protagonist…Wonderful precision and wit…A remarkably entertaining story.’
‘Young grounds the book in the cadences of daily life in regional Australia, while also having lots of self-aware fun winking at the conventions of sci-fi and romance storytelling. Crackling with irreverent energy…appealing to a wide range of readers.’
‘Genre-bending…a bit of a love story and a race against time…Australian flavoured Neil Gaiman Doctor Who action romp.’
‘Bootstrap is a wild, exhilarating ride of a book, from start to finish, bending and transcending genre and creating something powerfully original in the process. Georgina Young perfectly captures the language and attitude of rural Australia, and the tender core beneath rough-around-the-edges characters. This book is funny, witty and razor-sharp—a pure adrenaline rush!’
‘Nails the dialogue of country Australia…Heart-warming, heart-wrenching, but also just really fun…I bloody adored it.’
‘There is vibrancy and energy in each protagonist…Wonderful precision and wit…A remarkably entertaining story.’
‘A fantastic tale of Victoria…It really catches the Australian vernacular…Really entertaining [and] funny.’
‘Young wonderfully weaves in complex ideas and a character-driven plot.’
‘Young’s novel contemporises the tropes [of time travel and romance]…[The] dialogue between the characters is witty, fiery and eminently readable…and the use of colloquialisms and slang really situates this as an Australian novel. People of all ages…will find something to love in this whip-smart tale of what it means to be in love.’