Author Talk with Michelle Prak

An abandoned resort seems the perfect place to hide, but is Barren Cape a refuge or a trap?

Former housemates Mac and Erika are homeless.

Well, Erika is fine, she just has to live with her parents until she can find another rental. Mac's situation is much worse – family isn't an option and she's surfing the couches of her increasingly exasperated friends.

Driving around one lonely afternoon, Mac discovers Barren Cape. Once destined to be a luxury escape, now it's just wire fence and gray cement.

It's stark, but quiet. There's no harm in staying a little while…

Bookings are essential.

Author bio:

Michelle Prak is an Adelaide author whose books are set in South Australia. Her debut thriller, The Rush, was published in 2023; Barren Cape in 2025. Her career has spanned PR, social media, politics and journalism. Michelle's short stories have been shortlisted in several competitions, and she was runner-up in the Furphy Literary Award 2021.

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The City of Charles Sturt would like to acknowledge the land we occupy today is the traditional lands of the Kaurna people and that we respect their spiritual relationship with their country. We also acknowledge the Kaurna people as the custodians of the greater Adelaide region and that their cultural and heritage beliefs are still as important to the living Kaurna people today.