Mary-Lou Stephens is a Tasmanian born author, whose divine debut novel "The Last of the Apple Blossom" (HQ Fiction) I recently had the pleasure of reading.

In this book we get to re-live the highs and lows of being an apple orchardist, through the eyes of two life-long friends Catherine Turner and Annie Pearson.

This was a spectacularly rich, thoroughly researched and highly emotive family drama that offers a poignant insight into the drawn out demise of this once thriving industry and the incredible courage and resilience of the families affected by this tragedy.

An absolute cracker.

I was thrilled to have the chance to speak with Mary-Lou on the podcast recently.