The Beloved (novel)

The Beloved (2012) is a novel by Australian author Annah Faulkner. It won the 2013 Nita Kibble Literary Award.

Book summary
Roberta (Bertie) Lightfoot moves from post-war Melbourne and Sydney in the 1950s to post-colonial frontier town, Port Moresby. One day she discovers she has polio and the novel follows her long road to recovery and the subsequent discovery of her gifts as a painter.

Reviews
"Readings" bookstore called the novel "Tender and witty, The Beloved is a moving debut novel which paints a vivid portrait of both the beauty and the burden of unconditional love."

Mary Anne Elliott, reviewing the novel in The Northern Star stated: "Faulkner's engaging and evocative narrative never falters; it is by turns wise, witty and completely delightful."

Awards

 * 2011 winner Queensland Premier's Literary Awards — Best Manuscript of an Emerging Queensland Author
 * 2013 shortlisted Miles Franklin Award
 * 2013 winner Kibble Literary Awards — Nita Kibble Literary Award