The Survivors

Jane Harper resides in Melbourne, Australia. She was a journalist for 13 years before becoming a novelist, and she credits her journalistic background with giving her the tools for crafting a story that keeps readers engaged. Each chapter of her novels ends on a small cliffhanger making for a propulsive reading experience. Harper has a knack for surprise endings which she writes first and then works the story backward to the beginning. Interested in how people react to watershed moments in their lives, Harper draws characters that have intense, defining experiences that shape their lives going forward. At the heart of each of her novels is a mysterious crime, but the police procedural takes a back seat to the interior journey of the characters who are enmeshed in familial or small-town conflict. In addition to a complex web of characters, Harper sets her stories in severe, remote landscapes where the unforgiving terrain and harsh weather conditions become characters in the story.

The setting of Harper’s novels plays a large role in the plot and in shaping the characters. Harper captures the beauty along with the hostility of the Australian landscape while creating engaging storylines and relatable characters.