In Hayley Scrivenor’s debut novel Dirt Town, the barren landscape of regional Australia becomes the battleground upon which narratives of motherhood, friendship and trauma play out.
When Esther Bianchi goes missing on her way home from school in Durton, New South Wales – nicknamed Dirt Town – the residents’ illusion of small-town safety is shattered. Her disappearance exposes the deep cracks running through the community as the investigation casts suspicion on friends and family. Esther’s best friends, Ronnie and Lewis, drift apart without her presence to ground them.
