A Language of Limbs

Dylin Hardcastle

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Paperback

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QTY:

English

Picador
01 July 2024

Fiction & Literature; Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Australian Fiction

LONGLISTED FOR THE STELLA PRIZE 2025

'I loved it' Hannah Kent

'An instant queer classic' Benjamin Law

The first love of a teenage girl is a powerful thing, particularly when the object of that desire is her best friend, also a girl. It's the kind of power that could implode a family, a friendship, a life. On a quiet summer night in Newcastle, 1972, a choice must be made: to act upon these desires, or suppress them? To live an openly queer life, or to try desperately not to?

Over the following three decades, two lives almost intersect in pivotal moments, the distance between them at times drawing so thin they nearly collide. Against the backdrop of an era including Australia's first Mardi Gras and the AIDS pandemic, we see these two lives ebb and flow, with joy and grief and loss and desire, until at last they come together in the most beautiful and surprising of ways.

A Language of Limbs is about love and how it's policed, friendship and how it transcends, and hilarity in the face of heartbreak. An unashamed celebration of queer life in all its vibrancy and colour, this story finds the humanity in all of us, and demands we claim our futures for ourselves.

'Poetic, fresh and mesmerising . . . I am desperate for more stories like this' Jessie Stephens

LONGLISTED FOR THE AUSTRALIAN BOOK DESIGN AWARDS 2025 BEST DESIGNED LITERARY FICTION/POETRY COVER

Praise for A Language of Limbs

'A life-affirming, deeply felt novel of the decisions we make and the lives that unspool from them. To read A Language of Limbs is to be reminded of the power of queer joy and community. I loved it.' Hannah Kent

'Poetic, fresh and mesmerising, Hardcastle's work is like nothing I have ever read. A Language of Limbs is full of feeling; a love story about the family we make ourselves. Upon finishing this book I was overwhelmed by a sense of, more. I am desperate for more stories like this.' Jessie Stephens

'Dylin Hardcastle's novel carried me away like a tidal current. Expansive across time, yet intimate in its focus, A Language of Limbs is that rare book that's equally poetic and propulsive - with twin protagonists who are impossible to shake. Nothing short of an instant queer classic.' Benjamin Law

By: Dylin Hardcastle
Imprint: Picador
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 230mm, Width: 154mm, Spine: 24mm
Weight: 388g
ISBN: 9781761269875
ISBN 10: 1761269879
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 01 July 2024
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Dylin Hardcastle is an author, artist and screenwriter. They are the author of three critically acclaimed books. Their first adult novel, Below Deck, was published in ten territories. Dylin is the co-creator, co-writer and co-director of the TV show Cloudy River. In 2018, they were a Provost's Scholar and a research assistant in World Literature at the University of Oxford. Dylin is currently completing their PhD in Creative Writing. Dylin has travelled to Antarctica, South America and Europe for artist residencies, and has exhibited their paintings widely across Australia and the UK. A Language of Limbs has been optioned and is in development with Curio (Sony Pictures).