Black Cow

Freya and James Archer live the high life in a luxury home in Sydney's poshest suburb, with money, matching Jags, two beautiful teenage kids ... and they couldn't be more despondent.James wakes weeping each morning, dreading the pressures of a long and grueling work day ahead, and Freya is struggling with her foundering real estate career.Global recession is biting in Australia, and the Archers are afraid.In a desperate bid for happiness and security they shed the fragile trappings of success and cruise over into the slow lane to take an unmapped turn-off on a country road and live off the land in a remote old farmhouse on the peaceful southern island of Tasmania.But is this an end to their old misery or the beginning of an even greater one?The rich poetic and literary quality of Ball's second novel delves into the lives of very real characters as they dig deeply into both the earth and into themselves to discover where their heartaches are really buried.Fast-paced, gorgeously-written and stunningly perceptive, Black Cow is not only a great read; it is a timely and important one. Joan Schweighardt. Gudrun's Tapestry and other novelsA novel of our time. We follow the characters through all the compromises, adjustments and hard choices that must be made in hopes of a life of wholeness and integrity. This is a life affirming story. Judy Johnson. The Secret Fate of Mary WatsonA masterpiece. Ball's seamless exploration of the faulty human-condition and the urgent notion that money means success is brilliantly interwoven with the gentle quietness of unconditional love, invoking the realization that life is precious, and small enough to cradle in the palm of a baby's hand. Jessica Bell. String Bridge and Twisted Velvet Chains