The Thinning

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 STELLA PRIZE

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 FICTION INDIE BOOK AWARD

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 ACT LITERARY AWARD FOR FICTION

'No label can fully do justice to the essence, the quality, the depth of a tale that's as subtle yet momentous as The Thinning. It is one of those rare novels you may wish to read again' ARTSHUB

'Stunningly wrought . . . The Thinning moves with the compressed momentum of a thriller towards a spectacular climax' THE GUARDIAN

'Heart-racing . . . [An] emotive tour de force' THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY

'Incandescent . . . An electric and melancholy tale, disturbingly believable but ultimately - and surprisingly - hopeful' THE STELLA PRIZE JUDGES

A powerful literary page-turner about two young people in a race against time to reach a monumental solar eclipse, from famed Australian novelist Inga Simpson

We haven't always lived like this . . .'

Fin grew up by an observatory, learning about telescopes and planets, inspired by the passions of her parents, then leaders in their fields of astrophotography and astronomy. Those days are long over. Now Fin, her mother, Dianella, and a band of outliers live deep off the grid, always on amber alert and always ready to run.

In the outside world, things are not good: extinctions and a loss of diversity threaten what's left of the environment. With a new disaster looming, Fin finds herself thrust into an unlikely partnership with a stranger who has appeared in their camp - one of a new breed of evolved humans, the Incompletes, who are widely distrusted. But the pair will need to work together during a dangerous journey if they are to play their part in an audacious plan to help restore the natural world - and humankind.

The Thinning is both an exquisitely written novel of nature and urgent thriller by the bestselling and acclaimed author of Willowman and The Last Woman in the World.

'A spine-tingling literary thriller that will keep you racing to the end. The Thinning blurs the lines between animal, human and adaptation, and provides a gripping glimpse of our possible future through a fascinating astrological lens. An emotional tribute to the natural world. Moving. Urgent. Beautifully written' KAREN VIGGERS, author of The Orchardist's Daughter

'Opened the cover; lost the rest of the day. Incandescent, righteously angry, superbly constructed. I am grateful for the reading experience, and grateful that the book was written and published' MICHAEL WINKLER, Miles Franklin Award-shortlisted author of Grimmish

'This is a book I wanted to race through