The 2020 Longlist was announced today with some incredible authors and titles nominated.
The Longlist is:
Tony Birch - The White Girl - In the 1960s Deane is a dying country town. Aboriginal Odette Brown cares for her granddaughter Sissy, conceived in rape by a white pastoralist. The girl's mother Lila has fled after her trauma. When a new policeman arrives in Deane he is determined to enforce the law, which would see the fair-skinned girl removed from her family. In this novel, Birch explores the horrendous Australian government policy, the Aborigines Protection Act and the impact on Stolen Generations.
Melanie Cheng - Room for a Stranger - Seventy-year-old Meg has been on her own since her sister died. But an intruder causes her to rethink her solo life. She advertises for a room mate and 21 year old student Andy moves in. The two have little in common and have to bridge divides of culture, age and gender to find connection. Cheng is a Melbourne-based writer who won the 2016 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Unpublished Manuscript for her short story collection Australia Day (2017).
Peggy Frew - Islands - Two sisters, Junie and Anna, observe their family disintegrate. Their parents' marriage falls apart and Helen leaves John in the hopes of finding the life she is after. John is unable to cope and care for his girls. Anna becomes rebellious and at age 15 she disappears from home forcing the family to deal with their trauma. Frew was shortlisted for the Stella Prize for her previous novel, Hope Farm (2015).
John Hughes - No One - In the wee hours of the morning, a driver feels a thud against his car outside Redfern Station. He eventually stops and inspects the vehicle to find a dent and some blood. Did he hit someone? As the driver searches for his victim, he begins a relationship with a local Aboriginal woman. This novella is written by the award winning author of The Idea of Home: Autobiographical Essays (2004).
Anna Krien - Act of Grace - In her debut novel, Krien has pulled together diverse characters whose lives become intertwined. Traversing around the globe and across generations, Krien tackles deep themes of reconciliation, climate change and war. Best known for her narrative non-fiction works (Into the Woods, Night Games, Quarterly Essays) she is ambitious in her subject matter. This novel has also been shortlisted for the 2020 Victorian Premier's Literary Award.
Gerald Murnane - A Season on Earth - Published in full over forty years after writing, this is Murnane's unabridged second novel. He had published the first half of it in 1976 as A Lifetime on Clouds, but the second half was never published. Adrian Sherd is a high school student at a Catholic school in Melbourne who fantasises about a girl he sees at mass. Later, he decides to become a priest, but still lives largely in a fantasy world.
Philip Salom - The Returns - Elizabeth is a freelance book editor who rents a room in her inner city Melbourne house to Trevor, a bookshop owner. These two eccentric, middle age house mates are both haunted by their pasts - an absent child, a broken marriage, ailing or missing parents. Author Salom is a poet and novelist who has previous success with his critically acclaimed novel Waiting (2016)
Carrie Tiffany - Exploded View - Set in the 1970s, a young girl lives with her mother, brother and her stepfather in the suburbs. He is a mechanic, fixing cars at the back of their yard. This is a story of childhood trauma and family abuse from the perspective of the girl as the family leaves on a road trip together. Tiffany is a well regarded author and her previous novel Mateship with Birds (2012) won the inaugural Stella Prize.
Tara June Winch - The Yield - Wiradjuri author Tara June Winch tells the tale of the Gondiwindi family. The ageing Albert wants to pass on language and storytelling to the next generation. His granddaughter August returns home to find the family land repossessed. Through this work, Winch tells a story about the importance of Indigenous identity, language and culture. Winch recently received the NSW Premier's Literary Award - Book of the Year, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction making her a hot contender for this award. 
Charlotte Wood - The Weekend - Wood won the Stella prize in 2016 for her novel The Natural Way of Things - the book I most recommended and gave to others that year. The Weekend is the story of four older women who have been friends for a lifetime. When one dies, their friendship changes. This is a brilliant novel that I highly recommend (read review).At this stage I have only read Charlotte Wood's brilliant The Weekend. If I had to guess though, I reckon that Birch, Cheng, Murnane, Winch and Wood will make the shortlist. The Shortlist will be announced 17 June 2020 and the winner will be revealed on 16 July 2020.