I listened to and enjoyed Robbie Arnott’s earlier novel Limberlost during a three-month road trip around Australia a couple of years ago, so I was excited to see that he has a new novel out this year: Dusk.

There are similarities between the two novels, even though the plots and settings are quite different. Both feature remote rural locations and exquisite evocations of nature. And both have deceptively simple, goal-driven plots, with a whole lot more going on beneath the surface.

In Limberlost, a teenage boy wants to buy a boat; in Dusk, two siblings track and hunt a puma. But Limberlost is not about the boat, and Dusk is not about the hunt. It’s about the characters and how they change in response to the situations they find themselves in.

The hunting premise wasn’t attractive to me, but I’m glad I stuck with it because this novel is about as far from a traditional hunting narrative as you could get. It’s not a story of human mastery over nature or the masculine drive to tame and subdue a wild creature or any of that garbage. It’s much more complicated than that, and much more satisfying as a result.

The twins, Iris and Floyd, have no experience of hunting a puma and no experience of the harsh mountain terrain they’ll be exploring. The puma, called Dusk, has already killed the experienced hunters who’ve tried to kill it. But they need money, and a hefty reward is on offer.

Why can’t they just get farm work or other jobs that are less likely to end in a bloody death? The answer involves a complex family history that emerges over the course of the novel and complicates the twins’ relationships with those around them. As they climb higher into the puma’s territory, it soon becomes clear that the danger comes not only from Dusk but also from the other hunters. Betrayals and suspicion abound, and they must make life-and-death choices about who to trust and who to stay away from. Needless to say, they don’t always get those choices right.

I won’t give away the ending since this is a new book that you might be planning to read, but I’ll just say that it’s not in any way predictable. By the time the twins find the puma high in the mountains, the simple quest they set out on has changed into something quite different, and they act in ways they never would have predicted when they first read of the bounty back in the lowlands.

Although the character development is a strength of Dusk, the depictions of nature are what sustain the narrative throughout. Here’s an early description of the plateau between the lowlands and highlands:

“A vast field of rock and tussock grass, tar black and wet brown, broken apart here and there by half-iced tarns and forests of small trees. The only shine in the land came from a few loaves of snow, soft wreckage scattered across the plain. In the distance, white peaks cut into a clear sky.”

It goes on like this throughout, with nature depicted so clearly and beautifully that the landscape becomes like a character within the novel. The overall effect is quite mesmerising, and this is a novel I’m happy to recommend. I’ll be looking for more novels by Robbie Arnott after this one too—let me know if you have any recommendations.

If you've never read a book by Robbie Arnott before, why not?? There's something so magical about the way he writes and this is another engrossing piece of dramatic fiction that he has created that had me spellbound from the first page!! His attention to detail jumps out from every page, and the big landscapes and exquisite character creations are just a delight to savour!

Iris and Floyd are at the heart of the story, sibling twins and they are the kind of people to keep to themselves having suffered at the hands of others in the past, more of which you learn about as we hear their story. They hear of people and wildlife being killed in a large area, and the name of Dusk has been given to this big cat, many of who have failed to stop it but a bounty has been offered to anyone who can put an end to the killing, so Iris and Floyd join in the hunt.

They've both had such a tough life, but that's made them very self sufficient and don't suffer fools gladly. They watch out for one another, as they have done all their lives, and it's clear to all how strong their bond is.

So through their story, we meet other characters that they meet along the way on their journey, and find out what happened to their parents and in their past and it's a real lesson in facing up to the worst in people - all set against this unforgiving landscape that they find themselves in and putting themselves in danger, be that from the wild cat or the humans they encounter along the way.

Another wonderful piece of work from the author, and easily in my list of favourite reads of 2025!

Thank you to Penguin for the eARC of this book (which I didn’t manage to finish until after release).

Dusk is an atmospheric journey across the Australian land on the hunt for a man-eating puma. Arnott’s ability to paint a scene is remarkable. The varying biomes across a young Australia are vivid as you read.

It is also a fantastic book in its exploration of human nature and emotions. A devoted love between siblings against a world prejudiced against them is the main focus of this story, as well as a love for the land you grew up in, despite the harshness and difficulty of both.

I can’t really put into words how this book made me feel, I was immersed and gratified by the end.

Highly recommend if you enjoy a historical and literary novel!

This is the first Robbie Arnott novel I have read and it will certainly not be my last.
What a stunning piece of work; I was absorbed into the setting immediately.. The writing style, characterisation and intriguing story was brilliant. Without a doubt, Dusk was one of my favourite books this year.
I don't easily give five stars, but this one hit the mark effortlessly.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

In Dusk, Robbie Arnott crafts a lyrical and atmospheric tale set in a remote, myth-tinged highland landscape.

When a puma named Dusk begins killing shepherds, a bounty is placed on its head. Twins Iris and Floyd are out of work, money, and direction, so set out to join the hunt.

What follows is more than a pursuit of a predator. As they journey deeper into the wild, they encounter a land haunted by both myth and memory. The highlands are written with such vivid, poetic detail they feel like a living force, mysterious, untamed, and steeped in history.

The relationship between Iris and Floyd is tender, conflicted, and deeply affecting. Their bond carries the emotional weight of the story, reflecting themes of devotion, shared grief, and the quiet ache of unrealised dreams.

The book’s pacing is measured, allowing the beauty of the prose and the subtle shifts in character to shine. The quest becomes something far more symbolic, touching on ancient conflicts, buried emotions, and the ways we attempt to survive both the external world and our internal one.

With its dreamlike tone, sparse yet powerful storytelling, and a perfect ending, Dusk is a book that lingers long after the final page.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

DNF’d as I couldn’t get past the writing style. It felt too detailed on things that made no sense to the scene. The layout of it felt awkward and almost AI generated.

Throughout the book there are winds that seem to whisper old secrets, characters etched with tenderness and grit. The twin bond unspools slowly, revealing trauma, loyalty, and aching love.

I have reviewed Dusk for book sales and recommendation site LoveReading. I’ve chosen this title as a LoveReading Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month. Please see the link for the full review..

Just simply stunning!

I adored this book so much.

Twins Iris and Floyd, out of work and out of options, join the hunt to capture and put an end to Dusk, a highly dangerous puma is who is preying on shepards and sheep in the Highlands of Tasmania. Dusk needs to be stopped - and there is a large bounty to be had for the person who stops them. But at what cost?

The writing is gorgeous and evocative, the plot is enthralling, it's eerily atmospheric. The descriptions of the landscape are like looking at a painting or photo - you can see it in your minds eye.

The characters feel real and I loved the flashbacks to the twins upbringing and childhood on the run with their outlaw parents, explaining why they have found themselves on this hunt, in extreme peril and the nature of their relationship.

It's pacy and powerful and very difficult to put down, especially in the latter half of the book when the hunt for Dusk intensifies.

It's a book about nature, both human and animal, and it examines exactly what makes us. It's about love, and relationships and putting right wrongs.

The ending was utter perfection. I really can't recommend Dusk enough.

Loved this novel about man vs nature! Arnott writes beautifully about Tasmanian nature and even though I seldom like historical stories, this was interesting, full of suspense and right up my alley.
Thank you Chatto & Windus and Netgalley UK for the ARC

‘She looks like every other puma. It’s her personality that makes her dangerous.’

Robbie Arnott is an Australian writer, skilled in the so-called nature writing, best known for his award-winning works of fiction, Limberlost, The Rain Heron, and Flames. Dusk, his forthcoming novel, tells the story of the Renshaw twins in their pursuit of a better life. Up in the highlands, Dusk is wreaking havoc, preying on sheep, shepherds and hunters. There is a fat bounty for whoever kills the devilish puma and saves the graziers’ farms. If opportunity presents itself, why not take it?

This was my first Arnott’s novel, and I was enthralled from the very beginning. More often than not, it is hard to strictly categorise modern literature into one genre. In Dusk, Arnott weaves historical aspects, thriller devices and adventure tropes skilfully woven into a compelling narrative. Iris and Floyd, the twins, are beautifully characterised. Real. Flawed. Deeply human. Their interactions, introspections and bond are rich. Iris is an indefatigable woman in her search for belonging, contrasting sharply to her twin Floyd, an introspective, stooped horse-lover. Together they journey from the lowlands (clearly meaning Tasmania) to the highlands of Australia in search of work. Neither location is explicitly named, but there are clues left here and there. The same goes for the time period (early 1900s). Throughout their journey, nature descriptions bloom in gorgeous prose, whilst the twins and the reader falls in love for the varied landscape and its wildlife.

This is a short book that can be read in one or two days. The plot is simple but effective, with many nuances that require some knowledge of Australian history for full appreciation, whilst remaining accessible to non-native Australians. The cast of characters is great! From them, Lydia is my favourite, and she represents the First Nations people who were expelled, killed, abused or pushed to the fringes of the colonies. This is not explicitly stated but implied, therefore drawing on knowledge of Australian history. An interesting aspect briefly touched on is the fact pumas are not native to Australia, leading to an intelligent commentary on colonial introduction. A subtle irony. To clarify, Arnott does not lecture; he leaves clues and information in the prose, and the only thing left for the reader to do is pay attention and reflect. I even learnt how to cut peat and discovered that grog is peat wine, which makes me wonder if Tolkien borrowed the term for his orc-fuelled beverage (intriguing and problematic).

As the story progresses, Arnott’s narrative becomes more intense, with splashes of thriller. By the end, I had goosebumps. It was this good. His mastery in storytelling, where every small nuance is connected and "explained", or at least remains relevant, is evident. I would highly recommend this for a book-club choice, as themes of colonialism, conservation , the twins’ bond, First Nations people, power dynamics and so much more, fodder for a rich discussion. Ultimately, Dusk is a compelling and engrossing read that pounces with claws bared and a deafening roar.

Thank you to Vintage, NetGalley and Robbie Arnott for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dusk is a story set in a world I didn't recognise but one I wanted to explore. Where ancient bones jut from the sparse mountainside and pumas roam the Tasmanian land. We follow Iris and Floyd, adult twins running from a past and searching for work. The place they stumble upon is a ranching town, complete with a bounty. The twins decide the prize is worth the risk taking down the man-eating puma, Dusk.

I really enjoyed the sparse but descriptive prose, the dream-like style of the story and the way the twins felt like real people within a matter of pages. As someone who normally avoids magical realism, Arnott's dripped use of it really worked for me and I will definitely be picking up more of his work.

I absolutely loved this! A really brilliantly told and written story, with well-rounded characters that I was really rooting for. I thought the ending was done brilliantly and I was completely gripped for the entire second half of the book (from when the twins start actively looking for Dusk). I found it cinematic in places and the description of the landscape is stunning. I’ve read similar things before (The Mountain Lion by Jean Stafford) but I enjoyed this much more. Look forward to selling it.

Floyd and Iris are siblings bound by their past. Outcasts, they, among many, are hunting for the puma, Dusk, who has been responsible for the deaths of both humans and animals. If they find her, they will win the bounty placed on Dusk's head. As they wander the highlands, they find much more than Dusk.
Did I enjoy this one - I'm still not sure! I loved the beautifully poetic descriptions of their journey but they did little to drive the plot forward. I did however love the very fitting end. Am I glad I read it - definitely, yes!

Wow.
Wow but 4 stars and not 5? Allow me to explain.
Arnott’s books have been on my radar for some time.
His craft for creating atmosphere and characters’ psyche is incredible.
5/5 for his writing.
And thanks to that, I never felt bored despite being slightly less engaged with the plot and the characters at times.
Iris and Floyd are twins who have an unfortunate start to life.
They go after Dusk and things change for them.
The parts after they decide to hunt Dusk were gripping and thrilling.
Plot and characterisation 4/5 stars

Robbie Arnott’ debut “Flames” I described as a Tasmanian Fusion of Fantasy, Folklore, Flora and Fauna and featured a variety of styles: starting as magic realism but diverting via folklore, sea-hunting, detective film-noir, some slightly misjudged humour before getting stuck in fantasy/myth.

I did not read his second “Rain Heron” but believe it was an eco-fable involving a hunt for the titular part-mythical animal.

His third “Limberlost” was a quieter, less fantastical novel – perhaps more an examination of personal myths, at times beautifully written I did wonder if the evocatively captured Tasmanian flora, fauna and landscape did a little too much of the heavy lifting.

This, his fourth novel, published in 2024 in Australia and on the day I read it the winner of the 2025 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) Literary Fiction Book of the Year, is due out in the UK in August – and it draws on many of the signature elements of his previous novels:

A Tasmanian setting (although very deliberately here there is no explicit naming of either time or overall setting);

Beautiful natural descriptions – here the awe-inspiring highland landscapes take precedence over the more rarefied flora and fauna;

The hunt for a mythical titular beast – here a legendary puma, the last of its kind having been bought in from the Andes to cull the equally non-indigenous deer but having got out of control and now largely hunted to extinction other than this one deadly remnant

The use of myth more generally – here in a landscape strewn (in what seems a clear metaphor both for the historical displacement of the first people and the on-going extinction of the natural world due to climate change and other anthropic actions) with giant bones – some of which are repurposes for shelters or even in one case an inn.

The use of different styles - here there is a heavy draw on the Western/frontier movie starting with frontier towns and wary contact with the remaining first people but then moving very much into adventure tropes.

The basic set up is of two 37 year old twins – Iris and Floyd Renshaw (the story told very much from Iris’s point of view apart from one deliberately jarring section from Floyd’s viewpoint) who leave their normal coastal haunts for the highland due to the story of the puma, and more particularly the bounty available for those who succeed in catching it (many hunters having already died in the attempt).

Of Iris and Floyd we are first told “Little was known about them at all, except for the work they did, and even that was debated. Depending on who you asked, they were labourers, hunters, thieves or worse. Or just travellers. There was always somewhere they were travelling through and never anywhere they stayed long.” but it becomes quickly clear that at least to those with long memories the Renshaw surname “the simplest kind of curse … a trap stretched open for a lifetime, a barbed gift delivered at birth” carries a resonance due to their convict-turned-escapees-turned-criminals and murderer parents.

On their trails Iris (and Floyd – whose twisted back stems from an incident in his past and causes him recurring agony) encounter or pursue among others: a legendary puma-hunter imported from Patagonia; Patrick Lees – an enigmatic tracker who Iris finds herself drawn to and who Floyd distrusts; a rich farmer devastated at the loss of his son to Dusk; a village of first person peat-diggers (I think based on the Palawa people) – but also the mixed memories of their parents (whose cruelty, drinking and criminality was undercut by a sense of us-against-the-world togetherness which Iris and Floyd themselves model in turn).

One area I particularly enjoyed was Iris and Floyd’s interior vulnerability which is at times at odds with their itinerant self-sufficient lifestyle and which particularly comes out in their surprising emotional attachments to their horses – passages such as “They tethered their horses in the small stable, unsaddled them, brushed them down, gave them each a blanket, held handfuls of oats to their mouths, threw hay into their stalls, filled their troughs with water, patted their noses, scratched and stroked the thinly furred tissue of their ears, leaned into the huff of their breath to whisper wordless love. Then they straightened their coats and hats and went inside.” particularly resonated with me given my own equine-attachments.

And overall there is a lot to enjoy in the slow build up to the novel, but its more dramatic denouement (despite an innovative use of the page to capture a hiatus) was not really to my tastes compared to the more subtle “Limberlost”. Nevertheless Arnott remains a distinctive talent.

Iris and Floyd are the children of parents transported from the old country for poaching. The Renshaw name is still a byword for thievery and violence despite the twins’ best efforts. With no work on the horizon, Iris suggests they head to the highlands after hearing about a puma killing sheep and now humans. Travelling through a starkly beautiful landscape, they find a tavern, oddly enclosed with the bones of what might be a whale from when the plateau and mountains were submerged, where there’s much talk of the Patagonian who left over a month ago, now presumed dead. Iris finds herself smitten with one of the hunters with whom she and Floyd reluctantly decide to combine forces. Their quest will end in a way neither could ever have imagined.
As with his previous novels, Robbie Arnott’s writing is anchored in the natural world but he knows how to spin a compelling story, too. The magnificent landscape through which Iris and Floyd travel is gorgeously described in vivid word pictures. As they follow Dusk’s trail, the twins’ backstories are sketched in for us – the childhood stealing for their parents addled by drink, rare kindnesses remembered, the reputation that no amount of honest hard work can expunge. A strikingly beautiful novel from a writer who's become a favourite of mine.

The best book I've read so far this year. Atmospheric, thrilling and vivid. It has great characters, an excellent story and I was hooked from the start. Couldn't put it down and can't wait to see it published.