Possible Springs by Samantha Ross

Set against the nostalgic backdrop of nineties music, Samantha Ross's mesmerising debut weaves a beautiful coming-of-age story with small-town mystery and a hint of magical realism.

Eleven-year-old Jimny Adams should have died on that hot summer day in 1987 in the remote town of Possible Springs.  Instead, saved from drowning by her school teacher, she now carries an unwelcome gift: a secret, psychic ability she is desperate to hide from everyone, one that has pushed her to the outer edges of the tight-knit community she's grown up in.  But Possible Springs is a town teeming with dark secrets of its own and a now eighteen year old Jimny, with her ability to see inside people's thoughts, could be the only persona capable of uncovering them.

Samantha's debut novel was born from three important, intersecting elements in her life: her enduring connection to the paranormal, passed down by her medium grandmother; a youth spent working in clubs, rubbing shoulders with some of the world's greatest rock bands; and her deep appreciation for the Australian landscape, developed over two decades living in a small town within the sweeping wilds of Far North Queensland.

Possible Springs captures the raw beauty and fierce isolation of regional Australia and tells the story of a courageous, quick-witted and achingly vulnerable character who must find strength alone, guided by music and a gift she never asked for.  Rich in atmosphere and heart, it delivers a compelling blend of rural noir and supernatural suspense, peppered with iconic Australian humour, introducing readers to a young woman they'll struggle to forget and an eccentric town they'll never want to leave.

Possible Springs

by Samantha Ross

Penguin Random House

RRP: $34.99