Rain 

Winner, Literary Fiction category, 2011 Indie Excellence Awards

Silver medalist, 2011 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), Regional Fiction: Australia/New Zealand category.

Set in provincial Australia in the early sixties, Rain is a multigenerational family saga that chronicles the lives of three generations of the Wallin sawmilling dynasty. It explores the often difficult but enduring ties between mothers and daughters, men and women: the sacrifices, compromises, and patterns of emotion that repeat themselves through generations. 

By turn dark and amusing, Rain delivers an emotionally charged revelation about love, loss, guilt, self-discovery and redemption. The enduring question of family bonds—escapable or not, divides, conquers, and triumphs.

   
   Books for children:

   The Glass Table (Book I)
   Shards (Book II)
   A River Somewhere (Book III)

   Other books for adults:

   Being Anti-Social

             

Rain is available at all major online retailers. See stockists 

Cover design by Elizabeth Botté

Book Club Discussion Questions
 

Comments

"I finished your book—it was great! I wasn't expecting all the journal entries from Carl. I liked the way and style in which you write. Very inspiring."

Margaret Holt

"This is not my usual type of story so no one was more surprised than me at how enjoyable this story was to read. It's full of the suspense I crave in mystery/thrillers.
The characters were very real. The obstacles they encountered were very real. All-in-all a genuine story that had my attention from start to finish. You won't find a sagging middle in this well-written novel."

Tom C. Cole  
 

"This book was one I just couldn't put down. It's beautiful writing, subdued, gentle but distant yet you 'feel' all of it." 

Alison M. Webster
 

"This is a sad and sometimes tough book to read but I found it difficult to put down and was readily called back to my Kindle by this haunted family. 

I read this story with my heart placed firmly in my mouth, I have to say it also bled quite profusely as well. This is a very human story and I suspect based on very real people. Thank you Leigh for sharing this wonderful story with us. It will stay with me, as I'm sure it will stay with all who read it."

Kev C. Webb

"The story moves through the generations and, as you would expect from a family saga, there's plenty of saga. For some, it might be too much pain and suffering, but for others who like a story to be packed with action and emotion, you will love it as I did."

Emily James 

Comments

"This family saga began to draw me in from the first page, and by the end of the first chapter, I was hooked. Leigh has a way with words that I loved. Her talent had me re-reading many of her sentences because they were so well done. I wished I'd written them myself. Such as, 'He had crossed the line: the one that separated justifiable wrong and unforgivable sin.' And, 'So many people wise about death, even though they had no personal experience with it, for if they knew death, as Helen now did, they would also know that a blade wounded, a stab into the heart was fatal, and time had just two hands, and was not a father.'
 
Each character the author zeroed in on came to life and I found myself caring about what would happen to them. This wasn't a feel-good book as much as it was realistic and thought provoking. The story has stayed in my mind for a few days and so I decided I had to write a review and encourage others to read it so they could enjoy the story as much as I did." 

Mimi Barbour

"This is a moving story of a woman's final triumph over adversity, and the lessons she learned along the way from the past - the misfortunes of her mother and grandmother, and the misadventure of her siblings. I loved, loved, loved this story, and thoroughly recommend it to others who enjoy reading about human frailties, relationships, and journeys to places you might not want to go."

Caroline Standish
 

"I'm a long-time lover of the traditional epic family saga and this one does not disappoint. There's a lot happening in this story from chapter to chapter but it flows naturally, and the author's style is calm and understated—there's no drama or emotion in her words even though it's an emotional story. I'm not sure how this is achieved but I like it; the emotion you feel when reading this story comes from within."

I also enjoyed the Australian setting, just as I used to enjoy the Irish settings in Maeve Binchy's books. 

Lovers of stories about family relationships and all the complications that go with them will enjoy Rain."

Jocelyn Rose

"Abuse—psychological, physical, and sexual—dominates Cunningham's story. And yet all of her characters—no matter how possible it is to say they invite their own grief—are sympathetic. This reader wanted each of them to succeed, even as he grew in his knowledge that most of them wouldn't. 

But what this reader most admires in Rain is Cunningham's unsentimental but intensely moving style of writing. She has no need to tell you when she's touching your heart. You simply feel it." 

Ron Fritsch