One stroke of luck can change your life . . . The critically acclaimed and enthralling literary novel about a batmaker and a gifted young cricketer, and the game that ties them together. For fans of Chad Harbach's The Art of Fielding and Joseph O'Neill's Netherland.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKPEOPLE ADULT FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

'Willowman may well be the perfect Australian novel' Readings

'Beguiling and entertaining' PETER LALOR, Weekend Australian

'A sweet strike that goes beyond the boundary' The Age

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

'I bloody loved this - a gorgeous, heartbreaking examination of so much more than cricket' ROBBIE ARNOTT, author of Limberlost

Allan Reader, one of the last traditional batmakers in the country, keeps his family business alive in a small workshop in Melbourne.

When Todd Harrow, a gifted young batter, catches Allan's eye, a spark is lit and Allan decides to make a Reader bat for him, selecting the best piece of willow he's harvested in years to do so.

As Harrow charts a meteoric rise to the highest echelons of the sport, Allan's bat takes centre stage as well, awakening something in him. But can Allan's fledgling renaissance - hanging as it does on the magic of that bat - carry on after Harrow is stricken by injury and a strained personal life?