The Vintage and the Gleaning

The Vintage and the Gleaning is set in a winemaking town in the north-east of Victoria, close to the Murray River. Smithy is a retired shearer turned vineyard worker who has recently been forced to give up drinking after a lifetime of alcoholism. In his new sobriety he is contemplating the world in which he lives and the man he has been and become with a new understanding. Assaulted by long forgotten memories, Smithy is forced to take stock of his own past.

Overwhelmed with feelings of regret, guilt, loss and nostalgia for the past, Smithy is trapped in a blind search for meaning as he realises that he cannot undo the repercussions of his wasted life. He is a desperate and lonely old man seeking beauty in an ugly world.

Living in the same town is Charlotte, a young woman in a dangerous relationship, whose misfortunes have led her into an uneasy friendship with Smithy. It is in his confused and ultimately futile attempts to help Charlotte that he seeks redemption.

Praise for The Vintage and the Gleaning:

…a small gem of a book. The content is secondary to the style, which is simple, pared down and precise. However this does give the novella a slight feeling of airlessness. Tiptoe through pages of beautiful prose, nodding in admiration at lovingly rendered descriptions.

Time Out London

Chambers understated account of a retired sheep shearer in a small Australian town deserves a wide readership…The rhythms of this life, the work, the terse banter among the men, and the relentless desperation are economically conveyed…and the descriptions of ghost gums, the malignancy of circling crows and the omnipresent bleached, exhausted landscape are superb.

Guardian

This terrific Australian first novel is set in a working world. Smithy is an old man on his last legs, labouring in a vineyard. He notices the beauty of the land around him. He notices and observes the people around him and is haunted by the sudden clarity of his past. He steps in to help Charlotte, a desperate young woman, and she gives a little purpose to his life…Chambers writes very powerfully about the sadness of memory.

The Times

Without a doubt the most distinguished first novel by an Australian writer I have read for a long time…by turns harsh and lyrical, satiric and compassionate, and ultimately tragic.

Andrew Riemer, Sydney Morning Herald

‘This beautiful debut novel sets the nobility of working the land against the desperation of life in a small country town…Daring in it’s simplicity, the novel moves at half-speed, allowing time to stop and smell the roses, or grapes, as it were, while life lessons are delivered through red-raw reminiscences and haunting inner monologue.

West Australian

‘Doubt and regret sustain this extraordinary debut novel from Australia by an author not only in possession of an authentic feel for the ordinary but also blessed with a well-developed understanding of personal turmoil… Chambers is already so accomplished a storyteller, and so confident a writer, that the bits and pieces of information are filtered effortlessly into the story, which begins with the kind of opening scene of which film-makers dream.’ Read the full review here.

Irish Times