Billy's Tree

'Billy's Tree' is a major novel that deals with the impossibility of escaping from your past and the need to confront previous injustices. It's about the power of friendship; the need to exorcise ghosts – and the devastating ways in which families can be torn apart.

'Billy's Tree' traverses the twentieth century by exploring the lives of a number of people who live in the inner-Sydney working-class suburb of Redfern. On the eve of their South Sydney rugby league club (the Rabbitohs) being expelled from the national competition, Johnnie Butler arrives in Redfern with his mother, and is soon befriended by some elderly neighbours. There's Major Bob and his mate Old Tom, who are obsessive supporters of the Rabbitohs, and there's the Greek woman, Yaya Zoe, who brings Johnnie homemade baklava and toys bought more than fifty years earlier but never opened. On the day that the Souths are kicked out of the league, Johnnie disappears. When he is found, he is profoundly disturbed and has lost the power of speech.

Set against the backdrop of the struggle to have the Rabbitohs reinstated, 'Billy's Tree' interweaves the experiences of Greek and Lebanese immigrants, Aboriginal stolen children, World War II prisoners of war, and sporting fanatics whose lifelong devotion to their local footy club is an essential part of their identity. With strong echoes of Patrick White, this is a deeply moving, unforgettable novel.