Country Style Magazine
'A debut novel, yet it’s as if Begbie’s been honing her skills for the last 20 years and this is the culmination of all she’s learned.'
Books + Publishing
Amid squabbles, setbacks and humorously cringeworthy moments, a near-impossible brief becomes a race against the clock...Susannah Begbie’s debut novel The Deed is reminiscent of family sagas such as Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible and William Faulkner’s classic As I Lay Dying, but with a distinctly rural Australian flavour.
Sydney Arts Guide
'Funny, heartfelt and unforgettable'
The Australian Women's Weekly
'The Deed by first-time author Susannah Begbie has the makings of an Australian classic.'
Australian Podcasts - Final Draft
'The Deed is a tremendous family drama that variously shocks, delights and intrigues the reader'
Susannah lives and writes on Ngunnawal and Ngambri land.
THE DEED
OUT NOW!
THE DEED - SUSANNAH BEGBIE
'Now that's the way to bury your old man ... he sank into his Jason recliner, wincing. A burial: a body wrapped in handwoven cloth, women dancing and wailing. Too much, in Tom's opinion, but at least they were mourning. To hell with that, at least they showed up.'
Tom Edwards is dying, and cranky. He's made his peace with the dying part. But he'd bet his property - the whole ten thousand acres of it - that there'd be no wailing at his funeral. His kids wouldn't be able to chop down a tree, let alone build a coffin to bury him in.
Then Tom has an idea ...
Christine is furious, David ashen-faced, and Sophie distracted. Only Jenny listens carefully as Vince Barton, of Barton & Sons, reads their father's will. Either they build his coffin - in four days - or they lose their inheritance. All of it.
A perceptive and unforgettable debut novel, The Deed explores the messy, sometimes volatile, complications that only the best and worst of family can bring. Sometimes greed can be good.
Sibling rivalry, a shifty lawyer, a multilinnion-dollar inheritance. What could go right?
The Deed out now!
ABOUT SUSANNAH
Susannah grew up on a sheep farm in NSW.
She has worked as a GP from Boggabri to Broome, South Coast to Red Centre and a whole lot of places in between.
In 2006, Susannah started a Graduate Diploma in Professional Writing at Canberra University. She was awarded Editor’s Pick for short story ‘Fly to meet you’ in the UCan’s First anthology, and best written text for children’s book ‘Don’t You Dare!’ in the Get Real project.
‘The Deed’ is Susannah’s first novel. It won the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers in 2022 and is published by Hachette Australia. Susannah is represented by the Jane Novak Literary Agency.
