Ben's Book Club Monthly Book Talk
Event Info
In March, Ben meets with Maryrose Cuskelly to discuss her latest novel, The Campers, an engrossing and provocative exploration of privilege, hypocrisy and justice. Read or listen to the book in the Libby app and join the authors for a well-rounded bookish discussion.
Date: Tuesday 25 March 2025, 7:30 PM
Book Now: Ben's Book Club featuring Maryrose Cuskelly discussing The Campers
Leah has a good life. She lives on The Drove, an inner-city cul-de-sac, with her husband Moses and their two children. She and her neighbours - ‘the drovers’ - look out for each other. Theirs is a safe, community - oriented enclave and that's the way it's going to stay.
When itinerants set up camp in 'their' park, some of the drovers are unsettled, some are outraged, and all of them want the campers to move on.
Not even Sholto, the campers' charismatic leader, can put their fears to rest. Why is Sholto - handsome, charming and apparently with other options living in a tent, and why has he chosen to pitch it beside The Drove? And why is Leah tempted to put her family and her comfortable life at risk when Sholto turns his wolf-like gaze towards her?
Inspired by both the housing crisis and the ways in which well-meaning community groups can turn toxic, The Campers is a thought-provoking and revealing novel that shows what neighbours can do to protect their own patch when threats of the unknown and unmanageable get too close for comfort.
Maryrose Cuskelly is the best-selling author of The Cane, shortlisted for best crime fiction debut in the 2022 Davitt Awards. Her book Wedderburn: A True Tale of Blood and Dust was longlisted for Best Debut and Best True Crime in the 2019 Davitt Awards and in 2016, she was awarded the New England Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing for her essay on the 1972 abduction and murder of Marilyn Wallman.
Ben Hobson is a teacher and author based in Brisbane. His debut novel, To Become a Whale, was released in 2017. It was longlisted for the ABIA Debut Fiction award and shortlisted for the Courier-Mail's People's Choice Award. His second novel, literary thriller Snake Island, was released in 2019. The Death of John Lacey, an Australian Western, was released in 2023, and is his third novel.