The Promise

**Outstanding new fiction from the Miles Franklin-shortlisted author of *Blood***

In this breathtaking new work, Tony Birch affirms his position as one of Australia’s finest writers of short-form fiction.

Using his unflinching creative gaze, he ponders love and loss and faith. A trio of amateur thieves are left in charge of a baby moments before a heist. A group of boys compete in the final of a marbles tournament, only to find their biggest challenge was the opponent they didn’t see coming. Two young friends find a submerged car in their local swimming hole and become obsessed by the mystery of the driver’s identity.

Across twelve blistering stories, *The Promise* delivers a sensitive and often humorous take on the lives of those who have loved, lost and wandered.