The Song Walker by Zillah Bethell

The Song Walker by Zillah Bethell

**Cover Reveal**

Wales Book of the Year Award winner, Zillah Bethell’s new novel is published with Usborne on 2 February 2023. We are delighted to present an exclusive reveal of the cover, illustrated by Saara Söderlund.

Synopsis

The Song Walker is an extraordinary new story of friendship, discovery and courage from Zillah Bethell, author of The Shark Caller which won the Wales Book of the Year and the Edward Stanford Children’s Travel Book of the Year 2022.

“There are three questions that I need to find the answers to:
Where am I?
What am I doing here?
And… Who am I?”

When a young girl wakes up in the middle of the desert, she has no idea who she is. She’s wearing one shoe, a silky black dress, and she’s carrying a strange, heavy case.

She meets Tarni, who is on a mysterious quest of her own. Together, the two girls trek across the vast and ever-changing Australian Outback in search of answers. Except both are also hiding secrets…

Zillah told us, “As a child growing up in Papua New Guinea, I learnt about the songlines. I particularly liked how the melody and rhythm of the songs seemed to follow the contours of the land they passed over because it felt as if the land were being sung into existence; that the song created the land as much as the land created the song. The beauty and power of this idea seemed immeasurable to me as a child and it still does.
I’m super thrilled that illustrator Saara Söderlund came on board again as the The Song Wallker is something of a companion piece to The Shark Caller. Saara has brilliantly articulated the blaze of the desert in colours that have huge symbolic resonance to both Papuan and First Country Australian communities, whilst managing to evoke a sense of infinite space and untethering by presenting spare and ever so slightly changing images to our gaze.”

Cover artist Saara Katariina Söderlund is a freelance illustrator. She paints with gouache, sometimes mixing coloured pencil or digital tools into the process. Her other covers include books by Sophie Anderson, Skye McKenna and Tom Avery. You can find out more about Saara’s work on her Instagram, @saarainfeathers or visit her website.

Zillah Bethell was born in the shadow of the volcano Mount Lamington in Papua New Guinea. She grew up without shoes, toys or technology. Consequently, she spent a lot of time in the sea swimming and in canoes. Zillah’s family returned to the UK when she was ten, and she now lives and walks in the hills of South Wales. A few of her favourite things include swimming in the rain, cheesy fridge magnets, Chopin, dancing and diphthongs.

Huge thanks to Fritha at Usborne for inviting us to host this reveal. Follow Zillah on Twitter and follow illustrator Saara’s work on her Instagram, @saarainfeathers or visit her website.

To preorder The Song Walker by Zillah Bethell, please ask at your local independent bookshop, or find out more at the Usborne website.