Published in 2025
224 pages
Rachel Morton is a writer from south-west Victoria. Her poetry has been published in various publications including Meanjin, The Moth, The New Welsh Review and Crannog. Rachel was shortlisted for the 2019 Australian Catholic University Prize for Poetry. The Sun Was Electric Light is her first novel and won the 2024 VPLA for an Unpublished Manuscript Award.
What is this book about?
“I read this pure, pained, beautiful book in a single burst, and emerged from it with heart and nerves rinsed clean.” – Helen Garner
Disillusioned with her life in New York, Ruth returns to a lake town in Guatemala where she had been happy a decade earlier. There, in Panajachel, she meets two very different women: the calm and practical Emilie, and the turbulent and intoxicating Carmen. Deciding to stay and build a life at the lake, Ruth finds work first as a nanny to a wealthy local family, then as an English teacher at a village school. Meanwhile, she becomes increasingly infatuated by her friendship with Carmen, pushing away the stability of her connection with Emilie. As Carmen’s fragile relationship with the world splinters, the difference between being a visitor and truly belonging becomes clear, and Ruth is forced to act.
