The Ancient Light of the Dead
Standalone

The Ancient Light of the Dead

The Ancient Light of the Dead is a casual stroll through the kind of eclectic village cemetery that each of us designs and builds over the course of a lifetime, and that each of us will one day inhabit. The 84 portraits in this collection are drawn from fragmentary beams of light that crossed the author’s experience—beautiful people, plain ones, ugly ones, intelligent ones, stupid ones, accomplished ones, abject failures, bullies, victims, criminals, saints, cheats, heroes, children, cowards, liars—the rich, the poor, the defeated, the unbeaten, the brave, the aged. Each person experienced his or her allotted share of fretting and strutting, with sound or fury or befuddlement, only to be heard no more. They lived in Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies, Canada, the USA, or Indian reservations in the American West—but in the end they have come together in one person’s memory. Different roads, same destination.

Available titles

Release timing, ISBNs, and pricing for each title record.
Paperback
ISBN: 9781761453311 · Hardie Grant Media
26 May 2026
RRP
$29.99
Release status
Available