Where the Line Breaks

Ryan O’Neill, author of Their Brilliant Careers says Where the Line Breaks is an ‘ambitious and original novel – a literary puzzle, an engrossing war story and a captivating tale of love and obsession.’

The Unknown Digger is Australia’s most famous WWI poet. But for decades, his identity has remained a mystery. Enter Matthew Denton – a PhD student at University College, London – who believes the unknown digger to be fact one of Australia’s greatest war heroes- Lieutenant Alan Lewis VC of the 10th Light Horse. As the story of Lieutenant Lewis, fighting his way across Sinai, Palestine, Jordan and Syria unfolds, the question of what makes him a poet, a lover and a hero becomes a troubled one. Meanwhile, in the footnotes, scholar Matt Denton is fighting his own battles with romance and with academia as he attempts to rewrite literary history.

Author Biography

Michael Burrows was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia. As a middle child in the creative chaos of six children, all of whom grew up to have some kind of artisitc streak, he never stood a chance. After travelling to London to work at the 2012 Olympics and backpacking through Europe for a year, the great British weather persuaded him to settle in the UK. Michael completed his MA in 2017 at City, University of London, where he wrote the first draft of this novel. Where the Line Breaks is his first novel and was shortlisted for the 2019 Fogarty Literary Award.