Once We Were Wildlife

A tender, luminous collection of interconnected tales that explore love, longing and the wilderness - both within and around us.

In this compulsive compilation of eleven stories and one poem - set against scorched landscapes, wild oceans, and rocky terrain - Simpson follows people on the edge of desire, heartbreak and change.

In 'Poached', an ex-soldier finds himself between a poacher and a Bengal tiger. In 'The Wash', a woman's reckless ocean swim reveals the instinct to survive and the end of a passionate love.

From the aching intensity of romantic love to the quiet devastations of motherhood and ageing, Simpson's literary prowess keeps us riveted by the power of nature to shape human relationships and worlds. Melancholic and joyful, masterful and inspiring, this is contemporary fiction at its finest by Australia's foremost writer of the natural world, Inga Simpson.

'The stories pulse with movement; they are visceral and sensitive to the changing colour of day and night . . . Simpson's lyrical eye is attuned to the smallest flapping of wings and the quietest rustle in the undergrowth' The Age

'Melding melancholy with optimism, Simpson proves she is the master of expanding nature's role within human relationships and societies' The Guardian

'Beautiful . . . The stories are earthy, awash with human anguish, love, loss, separation, dislocation and conflict, moral and other . . . This is a book for reading and rereading' Living Arts Canberra

Praise for Simpson's award-nominated novels:

'Beguiling and entertaining' Weekend Australian

'Storytelling at its best. I was enthralled' SARAH WINMAN, author of Still Life

'I loved this - gorgeous, heartbreaking . . .' ROBBIE ARNOTT, author of Dusk