Kris Kneen

ISBN: 978-1-923023-58-1
Trade paperback, 272pp RRP: $34.99
Publication date: 1 July 2026
(ebook: 978-1-923023-63-5 $16.99)

THANK THE LITERARY GODS FOR KRIS KNEEN! FOR THE WAY THEY MAKE DESIRE DANGEROUS AGAIN, THE BODY LUMINOUS, AND SHAME IMPOSSIBLE. FOR GIVING US A SEA FULL OF MONSTERS – AND THE TERRIFYING GRACE OF FINDING ONE INSIDE OURSELVES. BEEJAY SILCOX

• Sexy, erotic novel about personal rediscovery, change and desire. This is Kneen at their most powerful.
• Atmospheric lighthouse setting full of mystery and intrigue.
• National publicity campaign including events in Hobart, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Byron Bay.

‘And here you are. You, who might feel the itch of an uncomfortable identity hanging heavy on your shoulders like a hair shirt. It is you I sing to. You who are tempted by the possibility of something more.’

In the hope of salvaging their relationship, Miranda and Richard become caretakers of a remote island lighthouse off the coast of Tasmania. Richard wants to shake up the malaise that had him falling into an affair, Miranda wants to understand what has changed and to recover from a diving accident that almost took her life. Both are excited about the renewal and adventure that the mysterious lighthouse promises. But what begins as a reuniting, quickly turns for Miranda in to an untamed journey back to the ocean that swirls at the core of her being.

Few write so vividly about bodily intimacy and spirit as Kneen. Rite of Spring beautifully fuses place, psychological drama, the primordial nature of the ocean and the personal search for a centre. It is a mind-blowing novel about a woman on the cusp of menopause that transcends our expectations about who and what we can be.

A triumph – the ultimate celebration of transition and of more-than-human love. Elegantly wrought, stunningly defiant and pitch perfect – this is Kneen at the height of their powers. LAURA JEAN McKAY

A psychosexual page turner dripping with tension, lust, bodies in flux. Kris Kneen’s Rite of Spring is Australian gothic at its best. SIANG LU

Glorious and sweeping. I was riveted by this uncanny, generous tale of Miranda’s search for belonging, and its scenes of wildly great sex. MIRANDI RIWOE

Kris Kneen is the award-winning author of memoir: Affection, Fat Girl Dancing. The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen and fiction: An Uncertain Grace, Steeplechase, Triptych, The Adventures of Holly White and the Incredible Sex Machine, Wintering, as well as the Thomas Shapcott Award-winning poetry collection Eating My Grandmother. They have written and directed broadcast documentaries for SBS and ABC Television. They live in Brisbane, Australia, where they work as a bookseller.