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Table of Contents
About The Book
One summer. One mistake. A lifetime of consequences.
Luke, Josh and Matty spend their days surfing, fishing and drinking along the coast of their small Australian town. When Millie joins their tight-knit group, the future feels endless and life feels simple.
Then one night changes everything.
In an instant, a reckless decision shatters their friendships and sends each of them down a path they never imagined.
Years later, as they struggle to build lives of their own, the past refuses to stay buried. Drawn back together by memory, loss and the bonds they once shared, they must confront the choices that shaped them—and the people they've become.
Set against the sun-drenched backdrop of coastal Australia in the early 2000s, Tight Lines is a powerful and deeply moving novel about friendship, addiction, regret and redemption, and the enduring hope that even after our worst mistakes, a different future is still possible.
Perfect for readers of Trent Dalton, Tim Winton and Craig Silvey.
Luke, Josh and Matty spend their days surfing, fishing and drinking along the coast of their small Australian town. When Millie joins their tight-knit group, the future feels endless and life feels simple.
Then one night changes everything.
In an instant, a reckless decision shatters their friendships and sends each of them down a path they never imagined.
Years later, as they struggle to build lives of their own, the past refuses to stay buried. Drawn back together by memory, loss and the bonds they once shared, they must confront the choices that shaped them—and the people they've become.
Set against the sun-drenched backdrop of coastal Australia in the early 2000s, Tight Lines is a powerful and deeply moving novel about friendship, addiction, regret and redemption, and the enduring hope that even after our worst mistakes, a different future is still possible.
Perfect for readers of Trent Dalton, Tim Winton and Craig Silvey.
About The Author
Photograph © Bec Capp
Allee Richards' short fiction has been published widely in Australian literary magazines and anthologies. Her debut novel, Small Joys of Real Life, was shortlisted for the 2019 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers and the 2020 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. Her second novel, A Light in the Dark, was published in 2023. Allee lives in Melbourne and works as a theatre lighting technician.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia (June 30, 2026)
- Length: 272 pages
- ISBN13: 9781761636936
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Raves and Reviews
‘Tight Lines is storytelling at its finest; a novel highlighting the hidden trauma and secrets that often accompany the "coming of age". Allee Richards balances emotion and drama with superb writing, inviting us to reflect on the complexities and dangers of youth.’
– TONY BIRCH, author of Women & Children
‘A heartbreaking, exceptional novel of deep emotional truth. Tight Lines is a profound exploration of growing up in the shadows of tragedy. I loved it.’
– MARK BRANDI, author of Wimmera
‘A sun-bleached story of friendship, risk and the strange loyalties that shape young men. Heartfelt, funny and impossible not to love.’
– BRANDON JACK, author of Pissants
‘All salt and sunlight, but with the sharpest of edges. Tight Lines earns every ounce of its impact and will leave a mark that won't fade. Like love, like sex, like life: everything is so easy, until it isn’t.’
– ROBERT LUKINS, author of Somebody Down There Likes Me
‘Tight Lines is a memorial to the promise and perils of youth, rendered in prose that is bright, tender, warm, and wry. A quiet triumph.’
– LIAM PIEPER, author of Appreciation
Resources and Downloads
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