‘Staggering in its scope, encompassing half a century of life lived by its magnetic and mystifying central character…Down balances [the] darkness with small moments of beauty, rendering Maggie’s complex, harrowing life with grace, humanity and hope…A dignified documentation bearing witness to a life both quiet and immense, Bodies of Light is Down’s strongest work yet.’ - Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen, Age
"A remarkably empathic book…a life that the reader cannot deny." - Guardian
"An ambitious novel that explores the psychological fallout of a life that has gone wrong from the start…Down is one of Australia’s most promising young writers." - Saturday Paper
"A story of a woman’s remarkable resilience, the possibility of human kindness, and the necessity of hope…Intelligently, tenderly restrained." - Australian Book Review
"Bodies of Light is an assured second novel, from the mind of a writer who has taken the time to really think through what she wants to express in a novel, and how she wants the reader to feel as they go through it…It is laden with emotions and gorgeous images and is unafraid of sentimentality. Reading this book is like getting sucked up into a blanket, and when you emerge out of the cocoon, the world around you looks a bit different. Or maybe, you look at it differently, with a bit more care, I think." - Sydney Review of Books
"Mesmerising, uncompromising and extraordinary. A whole life is in these pages." - Robbie Arnott, author of The Rain Heron
"An ambitious novel…that sees Down demonstrate her imaginative range and take risks…The result is a daring and compelling work, suffused with pathos and an impressive degree of empathic vulnerability." - 2022 Stella Prize judges’ report
