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Table of Contents
About The Book
Tara has only been half-alive since her best friend Ally disappeared decades ago. When her past reappears, Tara is forced to revisit places and secrets she would do anything to forget.
Tara has come a long way from the world in which she grew up. She routinely conceals her past, until a deepening new relationship weakens her defences. A shocking confrontation follows, unearthing how powerfully she is still haunted by the disappearance of her best friend Ally, who left high school one day and never returned.
The police were convinced that she’d run away. But Tara knows better, and when she is publicly accused of hiding the truth behind Ally’s disappearance, she finally understands the cost of her silence. She must find out what happened to Ally – and excavate the past she has kept buried for so long.
How well does she really understand the forces that shaped her? And what price will she have to pay to learn the truth? The closer she gets to answers, the more she realises that nothing can ever really be left behind.
Tara has come a long way from the world in which she grew up. She routinely conceals her past, until a deepening new relationship weakens her defences. A shocking confrontation follows, unearthing how powerfully she is still haunted by the disappearance of her best friend Ally, who left high school one day and never returned.
The police were convinced that she’d run away. But Tara knows better, and when she is publicly accused of hiding the truth behind Ally’s disappearance, she finally understands the cost of her silence. She must find out what happened to Ally – and excavate the past she has kept buried for so long.
How well does she really understand the forces that shaped her? And what price will she have to pay to learn the truth? The closer she gets to answers, the more she realises that nothing can ever really be left behind.
About The Author
Photograph © Danni Nix
Linda Atkins is a medical practitioner and writer living on Dharug land in NSW. A Ten Pound Pom immigrant, she was raised in Western Sydney, where she continues to live and work.
Linda’s work has been featured in The Calibre Essay Prize, The Olga Masters Prize, Grieve (2024, 2025), The ADAS Anthology, Stringybark Anthology, Persephone Literary Journal, Australian Book Review, Kill Your Darlings, Inside Story, Written Off Literary Journal and ZineWest, among others. She has been shortlisted or longlisted for numerous awards, including the Kill Your Darlings Flash Fiction Prize, Newcastle Short Story Prize, AAP Meniscus Emerging Writers Prize, Grieve Prize, Not Quite Write Prize, and the Born Writers Award.
In 2024, she was selected for the Parramatta Play Mates workshop, where her work was read by professional actors. She went on to co-write The Leftovers with Julian Colman, which received its debut reading at Riverside Theatre as part of Parramatta’s Lit! Festival and Sydney Fringe in 2025. She has since been a playwright in the 2026 Parramatta Play Project.
What We Left Behind is her debut novel.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia (November 30, 2026)
- Runtime: 9 hours and 30 minutes
- ISBN13: 9781761823398
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Book Cover Image (jpg): What We Left Behind
Unabridged Audio Download 9781761823398
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Author Photo (jpg): Linda Atkins Photograph © Danni Nix(0.1 MB)
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