The Winter Road

An epic true story of greed, power and a desire for legacy from an acclaimed Australian storyteller.

July 2014, a lonely road at twilight outside Croppa Creek, New South Wales: 80-year-old farmer Ian Turnbull takes out a .22 and shoots environmental officer Glen Turner in the back.

On one side, a farmer hoping to secure his family's wealth on the richest agricultural soil in the country. On the other, his obsession: the government man trying to apply environmental laws.

The brutal killing of Glen Turner splits open the story of our place on this land. Is our time on this soil a tale of tragedy or triumph – are we reaping what we've sown? Do we owe protection to the land, or does it owe us a living? And what happens when, in pursuit of a legacy, a man creates terrible consequences?

Kate Holden brings her discerning eye to a gripping tale of law, land and inheritance. It is the story of Australia.

Compellingly told, shattering in its reverberations, The Winter Road is a story for our times – a battle that is being fought the world over as we try to find a better way of managing the land and respecting the forces of nature that sustain us.' —Isabella Tree, author of Wilding

‘This book is a major contribution to the canon of Australian land and social history: a bedfellow with Francis Ratcliffe, W.E.H. Stanner, Tim Flannery, Bill Gammage and Bruce Pascoe … Its power is in exposing a hidden, suppurating sore in the psyche of our nation.' —Charles Massy, author of Call of the Reed Warbler

‘Holden brilliantly telescopes centuries of history and law into fatal conversations at a farm gate. As one man stalks another on a winter road, the whole psyche of modern Australian settlement comes under trial. An enthralling and disturbing tale told with deep insight and compassion.' —Tom Griffiths, author of The Art of Time Travel

‘This is a special book, and I cannot thank Holden enough for writing it.' —Anna Krien, author of Into the Woods and Night Games

‘Holden finds the epic thread in this crime.' —Chloe Hooper, author of The Tall Man and The Arsonist ‘An incredible writer.' —Books+Publishing