Tree Palace (2014) is a novel by Australian author Craig Sherborne. It was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award in 2015.
Plot summary
Set in rural western Victoria, this novel deals with a group of itinerants who have congregated around Shane Whittaker. The group makes money by scamming the welfare system, and stripping abandoned buildings (houses, schools, churches and libraries) of their fittings and selling them on the second-hand market.
Reviews
Peter Pierce in the Sydney Morning Herald noted the novel "is a gently handled comedy that treats enforced and willing marginalisation in an Australia that few of its citizens glimpse.""Craig Sherborner's Tree Palace a gentle comedy", Sydney Morning Herald, 12 May 2014 Catherine Ford in The Monthly stated that "...if Sherborne ever draws close to a Tim Winton–style picaresque, he keeps well clear of that writer's hymnals of sentiment.""Craig Sherborne's Tree Palace" by Catherine Ford, The Monthly
Awards and nominations
2015 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
References