I wanted to write that book which portrayed a suburban richness and wealth.”Īlthough he now lives in a townhouse in Woollahra, in Sydney’s exclusive eastern suburbs, Zusak – who is polite, modest, and talks with idealistic wonder about the power of books – grew up in the more suburban south of the city.

“I like the idea that we think we live these dull suburban lives, but they’re also big lives: we all fall in love, we have people die on us, we all have big arguments in the kitchen. Much like Tim Winton’s epic Cloudstreet, it is also a celebration of Australia, of the importance of the ordinary, the everyday and, above all, of suburbia. “That book is made up of pretty much everything in me – that book’s everything I’ve got,” he says. And while Clay the character pours his life into his bridge, Zusak has poured his life into the novel.

All these years later, he still speaks of the moment dreamily: “I thought of a boy building a bridge and he wanted to make this one beautiful, great, perfect thing.”Ĭlay, of course, is laden with meaning: objects can be moulded from the cold, wet material, but to retain their shape they need to be set with fire. Zusak, now 43, was just 20 years old when he first came up with the concept.

For the past 13 years Zusak was able to survive – supporting two kids and his wife Dominika, who manages his authorial administration and appearances - on royalties alone.īut if The Book Thief is his most famous book, Bridge of Clay is his magnum opus. The Book Thief, Zusak’s smash hit, spent over 10 years on the New York Times bestseller list, has been translated into 40 languages, sold 16 million copies, and was made into a major motion picture starring Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson. It is, according to Pan Macmillan, the “most anticipated book of the decade” – and not without reason. That is until the father returns and asks his sons to travel to a property in the bush to build a bridge – a literal and metaphorical way of making amends. Released in Australia in October, and in the UK and US last month, Bridge of Clay is a sprawling Australian family saga, focusing on five brothers abandoned when their mother dies and their father disappears. Australian author Markus Zusak in Sydney, 5 December 2018.

Bridge of clay book