Riders in the Chariot

Riders in the Chariot is the sixth published novel by Australian Author Patrick White, Nobel Prize winner of 1973. It was published in 1961 and won the Miles Franklin Award in that year. It also won the 1965 Gold Medal of the Australian Literature Society.

The novel is the story of the lives of four loosely connected people, whose common link is the mystic experience of the chariot of the title described in the Book of Ezekiel and traces their lives towards the point where they realise they share the same vision. We are introduced to each character in turn, and their personal struggles are explored against the backdrop of Sarsaparilla, a fictional mid-20th century suburb in Australia, often thought to be based on White's place of residence of that time, at Castle Hill, Sydney in New South Wales. The novel combines literature, mysticism and suburban life in 1950s Australia.

The novel shows the ignorance and prejudice of the everyday people in reaction to the few who see the infinite, snowballing with catastrophic consequences.