Only the Empty Sky

About the Book

1918: Lord Howe Island, off Australia’s eastern coast. An American, Paul De Martinet, arrives to paint the sub tropical outpost’s vanishing birds. Home to an insular community, jealousy and suspicion lurk not far below the surface of what appears to be an otherwise carefree community. On expeditions into the island’s mysterious and beautiful kentia palm forest he is accompanied by Margaret Sleap, a gifted local gardener. Re-animating vanished birds in paint, they find each specimen resonates with its own deeper story of loss and belonging. Together they map out the aching territory of love until one day, as tensions surface, they are the victims of a savage attack that sets in motion their own choices of survival.

About the Author

Russell Kelly, a former editor of Island magazine, has written several short stories. Love Bird is his first novel. He is a native of Hobart, Tasmania.