The Breeding Season – Stunning Debut Novel

A breathtaking debut that explores love, science, loss and the so-called feminine ideal.
‘Dark and poetic . . . beautiful writing.’ – Alice Sebold, author of the international bestseller The Lovely Bones

‘Astonishing. The writing is visceral and affecting, the sentences muscular and beating with a linguistic pulse which makes the book feel like a live creature. The Breeding Season is a creature that might, in turn, rip your heart out or blanket you in a comforting hug. Craft like this is rare and magical.’ – Krissy Kneen, award-winning author of Wintering

The rains come to Brisbane just as Elise and Dan descend into grief. Elise, a scientist, believes that isolation and punishing fieldwork will heal her pain. Her husband Dan, a writer, questions the truths of his life, and looks to art for answers. Worlds apart, Elise and Dan must find a way to forgive themselves and each other before it’s too late.

An astounding debut novel that forensically and poetically explores the intersections of art and science, sex and death, and the heartbreaking complexity of love. The Breeding Season marks the arrival of a thrilling new talent in Australian literature.

Duffy’s Thoughts On The Breeding Season

Amanda Niehaus writes poetically, luring you deep into the lives of Dan and Elise as they struggle to stay connected through a time of grief and hold on to a sense of self. Grieving is a complicated emotion, it can be all consuming and trigger feelings of guilt, emptiness and selfishness. Niehaus manages to explore these feelings respectfully. Her unique and powerful prose paired with detailed research, her own personal experiences and carefully crafted characters creates a piece of literary fiction which will sink its claws in and hold on until the last sentence.

The Breeding Season could certainly be triggering for those who have experienced deep loss, however it’s also a cathartic read, offering the reader a safe space to explore many different feelings all wrapped up in a weighted blanket of careful, considered prose.

It’s been a long while since I’ve been so affected by a book. The Breeding Season is a superior piece of work and sits alongside Tom Houghton, Lenny’s Book Of Everything and Lily and The Octopus in terms of delivering a severe book hangover and a book that finds it’s way into your soul.

A 5 star read, The Breeding Season is perfect in every way.