The Golden Age

★ "The Golden Age is pretty much perfect."―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Frank Gold's Jewish Hungarian family have fled Europe and the looming threat of Nazi Germany for the safety of Australia. Not long after their arrival, however, thirteen-year-old Frank is diagnosed with polio and is sent to a sprawling children's hospital called the Golden Age. There he meets Elsa, the most beautiful and radiant girl he has ever seen.

Frank and Elsa's love fuels their rehabilitation, allows them to face the perils of their illness with humor and bravery, and scandalizes the prudish staff of the Golden Age. Meanwhile, their parents are coping with challenges of their own. Frank and his family are isolated newcomers in a country they do not love and that does not seem to love them. His mother, a renowned pianist in Hungary, refuses to let the empty western deserts of Australia become her home. While Elsa's mother must reconcile her big dreams with the new realities of her daughter's sickness.

The Golden Age is a deeply moving, inspiring, and prize-winning novel about resilience, youth, and the will to live life to the fullest, whatever the odds.

WINNER OF THE PRIME MINISTER'S LITERARY AWARD AND THE PATRICK WHITE AWARD
FINALIST FOR THE MILES FRANKLIN AWARD