I purchased John Holland’s poetry book Dry Bones as a gift for my librarian sister-in-law.  I won’t comment on the book because poetry is personal.  I did read it before I gave it to her.  The only regret is that I didn’t buy the book directly from John and ask him to sign it.  After reading Dry Bones I wanted to read more of his work so I purchased Heartland.  

Listening to Johnny Cash sing Nine Inch Nail’s “Hurt” and to Mazzy Star’s “Into Dust” made sense while I started reading John Holland’s Heartland: Four Novellas set in the Australian Outback.  But as I continued to read I think listening to David Bowie or Peter Gabriel singing Heroes made even  more sense.

The environment and animals are uniquely Australian but the human essence of the stories could take place anywhere.

Each story drew me in as though I was a character sharing the same experiences as the main characters.

All the stories could easily be made into a movie or mini series.  And considering John’s background there is a great deal of sage advice mixed into the telling of “Left of the Rising Sun”.  Knowledge that could save someone’s life.

The ebook and paperback are available for Kindle and Amazon Books.

Enjoy!  And Keep Safe!

D.W.