Beginning in an isolated, rural 1950s community outside Brisbane and moving to the grubby London of the 1970s, Feather Man is a powerful and darkly funny novel. The protagonist, Sookie, is a quiet girl who, ignored and misunderstood by her parents, is encouraged to make herself scarce and visit Lionel, their elderly next door neighbour. After initially befriending Sookie, Lionel moves towards violation until Sookie can take no more and refuses to see him again. Unable to tell her mother or anyone else, Sookie grows into an introspective and awkward young woman. After winning a Brisbane art competition, Sookie moves to London in the hopes of escaping her past and finding a loving relationship. She cannot help looking for salvation in all the wrong places...