| The Beloved | |
| Author: | Annah Faulkner |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Publisher: | Picador, Australia |
| Release Date: | 2012 |
| English Release Date: | 1 July 2012 |
| Media Type: | Print Paperback |
| Pages: | 313 |
| Isbn: | 9781742611556 |
| Followed By: | Last Day in the Dynamite Factory |
The Beloved (2012) is a novel by Australian author Annah Faulkner. It won the 2013 Nita Kibble Literary Award.[1]
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.
"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."[2]
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."[3]