''Tree Palace'' (2014) is a novel by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n author

Craig Sherborne Craig Sherborne (born 1962) is an Australian poet, playwright and novelist. He was born in Sydney and attended Scots College there before studying drama in London. He lives in Melbourne. Awards * ''The Ones Out of Town'', 1989 winner Wal C ...

. It was shortlisted for the

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...

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." * 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''
/ref>

Awards and nominations

* 2015 shortlisted

Miles Franklin Literary Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tree Palace 2014 Australian novels Text Publishing books Novels set in Victoria (state)