Wisdom Tree

Series · 5 books · 2016

By Nick Earls

Books in series

Gotham

2016

Published as Cargoes in Griffith Review 50 Tall Tales Short—The Novella Project III, Gotham tells of the encounter between music journalist, Jeff Foster and ‘boy pharaoh’, Na$ti Boi. It reveals how hollow celebrities cast their spell. Think, Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe.

Venice

2016

Venice is about love and the tensions that pull us apart: the love between Harrison and his uncle Ryan, who is in need of a person to belong to, Natalie, who is pulled between her art and her heart, and Phil’s awkward stilted love. Think, Nick Hornby’s About a Boy. Nick paints the picture of Brisbane perfectly. The smells, sounds, tastes and temperature surround us as we witness Ryan’s relationships grow. A sensory wonderland that carries us on the journey.—Gyton Grantley, actor

Vancouver

Wisdom Tree 3

2016

Vancouver is the story Paul would tell if he were living in plague times—a story that comforts, a story that wards of evil. His story is about the giant that influenced his life, it’s about the day the world changed, and it’s about what happens when our giants come tumbling down. Think, any one of Giovanni Boccaccio’s stories from, Decameron. "This floored me. The format is a game changer and the linked novellas combine to create the best book I’ve read in 12 years, since David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas.Five complex and distinct stories set in New York, Brisbane, Vancouver, Alaska and L.A. that somehow magically meet—I can’t quite believe it. Earls has never had his due but if this doesn’t get incredible press from here to Timbuktu, then publishing truly is broken. Or maybe he just fixed it, because Wisdom Tree is a transcendent wonder. " — Chris Flynn, author of Tiger in Eden and The Glass Kingdom.

Juneau

Wisdom Tree 4

2016

Juneau: an acutely observed moment in which we see the universe. Set in what was once a Canadian gold-rush town, it’s about lineage, sons and fathers and great uncles, and how we’re connected through time and across the planet. "This smart, precise, and beautiful novella reads like an emotional time bomb. Everything is quiet at first, then comes a slow build of tension, and then comes a strange ticking sound, and then—BOOM—suddenly your heart blows up. You can't write better than this. It's simply perfect."—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic and Eat, Pray, Love.

NoHo

Wisdom Tree 5

2016

NoHo, is about living in the shadows of the famous. Meet Charlie and his would-be-star sister, Cassie, in Hollywood, discover the Wisdom Tree and family #5. NoHo reveals the devotion of mothers, and sons who overcome monsters. "The standout finale." —The West Australian on Noho "You can’t write better than this. it’s simply perfect.”—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic and Eat, Pray, Love “One of the most ambitious fiction projects being undertaken in Australian publishing. There are subterranean connections uniting the five novellas that are probably best appreciated by reading the books in the planned monthly sequence rather than devouring them all at once.”—Simon Caterson, The Weekend Australian “This floored me. The format is a game changer and the linked novellas combine to create the best book I’ve read in 12 years, since David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas.” —Chris Flynn, Tiger in Eden and The Glass Kingdom.

Author

Nick Earls

Author · 27 books

Nick Earls is the author of twelve books, including bestselling novels such as Zigzag Street, Bachelor Kisses, Perfect Skin and World of Chickens. His work has been published internationally in English and also in translation, and this led to him being a finalist in the Premier of Queensland’s Awards for Export Achievement in 1999. Zigzag Street won a Betty Trask Award in the UK in 1998, and is currently being developed into a feature film. Bachelor Kisses was one of Who Weekly’s Books of the Year in 1998. Perfect Skin was the only novel nominated for an Australian Comedy Award in 2003, and has recently been filmed in Italy. He has written five novels with teenage central characters. 48 Shades of Brown was awarded Book of the Year (older readers) by the Children’s Book Council in 2000, and in the US it was a Kirkus Reviews selection in its books of the year for 2004. A feature film adapted from the novel was released in Australia by Buena Vista International in August 2006, and has subsequently screened at festivals in North America and Europe. His earlier young-adult novel, After January, was also an award-winner. After January, 48 Shades of Brown, Zigzag Street and Perfect Skin have all been successfully adapted for theatre by La Boite, and the Zigzag Street play toured nationally in 2005. Nick Earls was the founding chair of the Australian arm of the international aid agency War Child and is now a War Child ambassador. He is or has also been patron of Kids Who Make a Difference and Hands on Art, and an honorary ambassador for both the Mater Foundation and the Abused Child Trust. On top of that, he was the face of Brisbane Marketing’s ‘Downtown Brisbane’ and ‘Experience Brisbane’ campaigns. His contribution to writing in Queensland led to him being awarded the Queensland Writers Centre’s inaugural Johnno award in 2001 and a Centenary Medal in 2003. His work as a writer, in writing industry development and in support of humanitarian causes led to him being named University of Queensland Alumnus of the Year in 2006. He was also the Queensland Multicultural Champion for 2006. He has an honours degree in Medicine from the University of Queensland, and has lived in Brisbane since migrating as an eight-year-old from Northern Ireland in 1972. London’s Mirror newspaper has called him ‘the first Aussie to make me laugh out loud since Jason Donovan’. His latest novel is Joel and Cat Set the Story Straight, co-written with Rebecca Sparrow.