The Devil Latch

Sonya Hartnett

May 1998 · Sold by Penguin Group Australia

About this ebook

Sometimes, when there is evil enough, that evil comes to life, and sets up home with you...'He draws her close, envelops her as if with wings. She does not resist him or the kisses over her face and when he tilts her chin up, she lets him, exposing the flesh of her throat. When she goes home that day she will wear the marks of the devil, the clinging smell of oil, the bruising of her neck.' This is a chilling and disturbing novel from the author of Sleeping Dogs and Wilful Blue.

Ratings and reviews

Another brilliant yet chilling, question/morale compelling book.

About the author

Sonya Hartnett's work has won numerous Australian and international literary prizes and has been published around the world. Uniquely, she is acclaimed for her stories for adults, young adults and children. Her accolades include the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Of A Boy), The Age Book of the Year (Of A Boy), the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (Thursday's Child), the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year for both Older and Younger Readers (Forest, The Silver Donkey, The Ghost's Child, The Midnight Zoo and The Children of the King), the Victorian Premier's Literary Award (Surrender), shortlistings for the Miles Franklin Award (for both Of a Boy and Butterfly) and the CILP Carnegie Medal (The Midnight Zoo). Hartnett is also the first Australian recipient of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2008).

Golden Boys, Sonya’s third novel for adults, was shortlisted for the 2015 Miles Franklin Literary Award. She also published her fourth picture book, Blue Flower, illustrated by Gabriel Evans, in 2021 and it was shortlisted for the CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award.