Stella Prize Longlist 2021

The 2021 Stella Prize longlist has been announced! The annual literary award celebrating women and non-binary writers of both fiction and non-fiction is named after Australian author Stella Miles Franklin. Past winners include:

Jess Hill for See What You Made Me Do (2020)

Vicki Laveau-Harvie for The Erratics (2019)

Alexis Wright for Tracker (2018)

Heather Rose for The Museum of Modern Love (2017)

Charlotte Wood for The Natural Way of Things (2016)

Emily Bitto for The Strays (2015)

Claire Wright for The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (2014)

Carrie Tiffany for Mateship with Birds (2013)

I credit the Stella Prize with introducing me to many authors that I would not have otherwise read.

On 4 March 2021, the longlist for this year's Stella Prize was announced with 12 nominees. I have already read one of the books - Louise Milligan's brilliant Witness - so far. Many of the books and authors are unknown to me so I look forward to exploring these titles. 

The 2021 longlist is as follows:

Rebecca Giggs - Fathoms: The World in the Whale

Blending natural history, science and philosophy, Fathoms explores the impact of climate change on whales. The judges described this book as a 'haunting piece of narrative non-fiction that asks pertinent questions about how globalisation, consumption and our obsession with convenience is threatening the environment in connected and devastating ways.' Hailing from Perth, WA, Giggs' writings have appeared in numerous publications. Fathoms is her first book.

SL Lim - Revenge: Murder in Three Parts

Two siblings experience different upbringings in the same household. Yannie is smart and savvy, but her ambitions are quashed by her brother Shan, whom their parents favour. Yannie rages against the pigeonhole her family, their community and others try to place her in. As she begins to find her voice, she seeks retribution. Lim is also the author of Real Differences.

Laura Jean McKay - The Animals in that Country

Jean is a grandmother who prefers the company of animals to people. She works as a guide at an outback wildlife park, and has formed an attachment to a dingo named Sue. When a pandemic spreads across the country, people begin to lose their minds. Fearing for the safety of her granddaughter, Jean and Sue take off on a road trip to find her. The Animals in that Country won the 2021 Victorian Prize for Literature and the Victorian Premier's Literary Award.

Louise Milligan - Witness

Investigative journalist Louise Milligan's brilliant book centres on the devastating impact the judicial system can have on victims of sexual abuse. She interviews victims, lawyers, social workers and judges for multiple perspectives, and makes recommendations for how the legal system can be overhauled to reduce trauma and encourage victims to come forward. I read this book earlier this year and was enthralled by the calibre of the research, quality writing and courageous challenge to an entrenched, archaic system. My review explores this incredible book in more detail.

Cath Moore - Metal Fish, Falling Snow

Fourteen-year-old Dylan is grieving for her mother when she embarks on a journey with her late mother's grieving boyfriend Pat across Australia. She is struggling with grief, her teenaged emotions, and a feeling that she doesn't fit in as she struggles to accept her Guyanese heritage. The Stella Prize judges call this book 'an outstanding young adult novel about family, grief and identity'. Moore is a freelance writer and teacher of creative writing at the University of Melbourne.

Intan Paramaditha - The Wandering

Written in a 'choose your own adventure' style, The Wandering begins with the Devil offering the narrator a pair of red shoes that will allow her to travel around the globe. Where to go? The destinations chosen will turn the traveller into a tourist, an undocumented migrant, a nomad or find a home. Paramaditha, author of Apple and Knife (short story collection), currently teaches media and film studies at Macquarie University. Intrigued, I have just ordered this at my local library. (Update - April 2021: Read Review)

Miranda Riwoe - Stone Sky Gold Mountain

Set in the gold-rush era, this is the story of two siblings who leave China for Australia to seek their fortune. They find work in a town near the goldfields and begin to form relationships in the community. But when a crime is committed, all outsiders are considered suspects. Riwoe was previously shortlisted for the Stella Prize for her novel The Fish Girl. Stone Sky Gold Mountain won the Queensland Literary Award for Fiction and the ARA Historical Novel Prize.

Elena Savage - Blueberries

The judges describe Savage's 'exquisite' work as 'a challenge to the world to discard preconceptions about the form and structure of an essay or memoir'. This is a memoir of sorts, written as a collection of essays blending form. Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award, this is Savage's debut collection. Another book I have reserved at the library.

Nardi Simpson - Song of the Crocodile

Darnmoor is the home of three generations of the Billymil family, who reside on the outskirts of a rural town. Over the years they experience the impacts of racism, violence, dispossession and colonialism and the intergenerational trauma that endures. The judges describe the Song of the Crocodile as 'a novel that contributes to a deeper understanding of Australia's history, and tells the stories of First Nations people in a voice and tone that has for so long been missing from our literary canon.' Simpson is a musician, playwright and Yuwaalaraay storyteller. This novel was shortlisted for the 2021 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and Indie Book Awards.

Elizabeth Tan - Smart Ovens for Lonely People

Tan has produced a witty collection of short stories. The judges write 'food scarcity, environmental destruction, capitalist bureaucracy and misogyny are just some of the ideas explored in the collection - in tales that feature mermaids, devious cats, and mangled 90s ballads. Impressively, Tan never loses sight of the characters at the heart of these stories...' Tan's collection won the 2020 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction.

Jessie Tu - A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing

Jena Lin was a child violin prodigy but at 22 she is a washed-up has-been. Struggling to reconcile her potential and reality, Jena travels to New York to take up an internship at the Philharmonic. Is this the second chance she needs? Tu is a classical violinist turned journalist. This debut novel is described by the judges as 'fresh, contemporary and bold - and has been crafted with verve...'

Evie Wyld - The Bass Rock

This novel weaves together the lives of three women across four centuries. The Bass Rock sits off the coast of Scotland and these three women are linked to this place and each other. Sarah is accused of being a witch in the early 1700s, Ruth moves into a new house after WWII, six decades later Viv catalogues Ruth's belongings. Evie Wyld won the Miles Franklin Award (and countless others) for her 2014 novel All The Birds, Singing. I bought this book late last year and look forward to reading it.

In compiling this longlist, the judges have chosen books that 'span the gamut of human enterprise and experience'. For more information and the complete judges comments, see the Stella Prize website.

The Shortlist will be announced on 25 March 2021. While I am terrible at predicting these things, my bet on for shortlisted works would include McKay, Milligan, Riwoe, Simpson and Wyld. Happy reading!

Road Trip

Patricia Highsmith published her novel The Price of Salt (1952) under the pseudonym Claire Morgan. At the time, it would have been risky for her to use her real name, as she was just becoming known as a writer of psychological suspense novels with the success of Strangers on a Train (1950). The Price of Salt, a 'novel of a love society forbids', would have been controversial and potentially damaging for the author's career.

Therese Belivet is a young woman finding her way in New York. She wants to be a theatrical set designer, but is making ends meet by working at a department store. She has a boyfriend, Richard, but she does not share the intensity of his feelings for their relationship. In the lead up to Christmas, Therese is working in the toy section when a beautiful woman comes in to shop. Therese is instantly drawn to Carol Aird and takes the unusual step of sending her a Christmas card. 

Carol is coming to the end of her marriage and is quite lonely. The card touches her and she reaches out to Therese. As the women begin to spend more time together, Therese falls desperately in love with Carol. To escape the bitter divorce proceedings, Carol proposes a road trip out west and the two women set off in Carol's car. Over the time of their travels they become intimate and realise the strength of their love for one another. But the 1950s are not the right time for an open relationship, and with the divorce underway, Carol cannot give her husband any ammunition he might use against her and risk losing custody of her child.

Having read many Highsmith novels in the last few years, The Price of Salt is a significant departure. The story of forbidden love, the consequences of their relationship are different for each. Therese, a young artist, has no family to worry about and would likely be accepted by her artsy friends. Carol has so much more at stake, with a young daughter, a home and her position in society hanging in the balance. Her outing could see her lose everything. 

Both women are mysterious and at first it is hard to understand what Carol sees in Therese. Therese is a hard character to grasp. She is an observer, constantly watching but not revealing much. On the first day of the road trip Carol says to her 'I wonder if you'll really enjoy this trip. You so prefer things reflected in a glass, don't you.'  But over the course of the novel, Therese matures, she begins to understand Carol more, and becomes more engaging.

Todd Haynes directed a film adaptation of Carol, starring Cate Blanchett in the title role, with Rooney Mara as Therese.  The film received six Academy Award nominations and nine BAFTA nominations. 

My reviews of other Highsmith novels are also available on this blog, including Deep Water (1957), The Talented Mr Ripley (1955), The Tremor of Forgery (1969), The Two Faces of January (1964) and This Sweet Sickness (1960).

The Outsider

Tana French's The Searcher (2020) appeared on a lot of best books lists at the end of last year, and as I was not familiar with French as an author and this is a standalone novel, I thought I had best check it out.

Cal Hooper has retired from his role as a detective with the Chicago Police Department. He has just come out of a long marriage and is in need of reinventing himself. He packs up and moves to a small village in Ireland, buys a ramshackle house to restore, and sets about finding a new, quiet routine. 

His peace and tranquility is disrupted when a local kid, Trey, asks for Cal's help to find a missing sibling. Reluctant at first, Cal realises that Trey won't give up on finding out what happened to Brendan. So Cal puts his detective skills to work and begins asking questions.

The locals in town are close and everyone knows each other's business. Cal is quickly warned off pursuing these enquiries in subtle and then overt ways. But Cal knows that Trey will not give up the search, and he can't let this one go.

The pacing in The Searcher is fascinating. Cal is working on improving his home - sanding, painting, peeling wallpaper - and these labours are slow and repetitive. Likewise, his detecting involves a lot of slow gumshoe work, navigating the bogs and hilly terrain of the rugged western landscape. Indeed we are almost a hundred pages in when we learn what Trey is searching for, making this novel a departure from others in the genre which start with a bang. I really enjoyed the pacing as it forced me to slow down my reading and savour the novel.

French has described The Searcher to an Irish Western. The title itself gives rise to thoughts of John Wayne, as does the notion of a retired lawman combing the frontier for a missing boy. Both Cal and the lawmen in westerns abide by a strict moral code, and Cal, as a stranger in this place, has to critically evaluate all he has learned on the job and adjust to his new surrounds.

Tana French is the author of seven other novels, including the six-part Dublin Murder Squad series. 

Dead Man Switch

Set in Sydney after the Second World War, Tara Moss' The War Widow (2019) is a gripping mystery novel featuring a compelling heroine. Billie Walker is smart, brave, loyal, resilient and determined. She has recently returned home from Europe where she was a war correspondent, and is carrying a lot of emotional baggage. Her husband Jack has gone missing, feared dead, and she has recently lost her beloved father.

Walker has taken over her late father's Private Inquiry business. It is a tough gig, but she finds female clients often prefer to seek her out. She makes ends meet with cases she detests - finding dirt for divorcing couples.  But every now and then a case comes along that uses her talents to the fullest. 

Mrs Brown engages Walker to find her missing son. The teenaged Adin was last seen a few days ago and so Walker and her trusty assistant Sam start their investigations. Their inquiries lead them to a night club, an auction house and beyond. Along the way, they realise that there are other forces at play which seek to derail their search for the boy. 

Meanwhile, Walker has also promised Shyla, a young Aboriginal woman who often acts as an informant, that she will investigate some missing girls. Shyla has provided a handful of small clues, but will they be enough to go on?

Walker faces sexism at every turn, as a woman in a 'man's job', failing to vacate her position for the men returning from war. She has to support herself and is determined to earn her way in the world. With her flare for fashion and her Fighting Red lipstick, Walker is a trailblazer ready to stand up to anyone who gets in her way. Moss addresses the issues of class, race and gender that Walker confronts, in a manner that feels natural within the setting of the novel. 

I absolutely loved this novel and was gripped from beginning to end! It feels very much like a throwback to an earlier time, reminding me very much of noir detective fiction from the period. Moss has done her research and authentically depicts the immediate post-war period in Australia, with people still reeling from the trauma of WW2 and trying to come to terms with its aftermath. Every day people are faced with wounded returned service men. The petrol rations, restrictions on imports, and the fear of foreigners feels very real. Set in Sydney and the Blue Mountains, I found myself reminiscing about many of the places she describes and craving a high tea at the Hydro Majestic! 

I have admired Tara Moss for her feminist non-fiction work (Fictional Woman and Speaking Out) and have heard her speak a number of times about her work in this space. I have never read any of Moss' fiction until picking up this novel so it is exciting to know she has many more novels to explore while I await the next Billie Walker mystery. 

The War Widow has been published in some counties as Dead Man Switch.

Blind Justice

Investigative journalist Louise Milligan has spent a lot of time in court covering high profile sexual assault and child sex abuse cases. During her investigations, she became increasingly concerned about the treatment of witnesses and the retraumatising of victims of crime through the court system. In Witness (2020), Milligan explores the vexed issue of balancing the fundamental principles of criminal justice and respect for victims, and makes recommendations for reform of the judicial system.

The book begins with a shocking rape case which lead to a protracted series of court cases. Eighteen year old Saxon Mullins, on a night out with friends, was raped by a man she had only just met. Mullins bravely reported her rape and agreed to testify against the perpetrator. Despite being the complainant, Mullins' voice in the case was diminished. 

Later, Milligan shares the story of Paris Street, a Melbourne schoolboy groomed by his athletic coach. St Kevin's school rallied around the perpetrator, betraying their duty of care to their students. Street had to testify at age 15 and was retraumatised by his cross-examination, and let down by those entrusted with his care.

Milligan herself was a witness in the Cardinal George Pell case, spending a day being drilled by Robert Richter QC. His needling, disrespectful, patriarchal style is designed to intimidate witnesses. Milligan describes the mental and emotional toll of this experience, and how important it was for her to have her own lawyer to advocate on her behalf. 

In Witness, Milligan interviews barristers, judges, legal support services, victims, victims' rights advocates, and more to gain deep insight into the criminal justice system. Complainants expect justice but are often ill-prepared for the brutal realities of the system. Victims are sidelined; their role reduced to a witness to the acts against them.

Innocence until proven guilty and the burden of proof are foundations of the criminal justice system. Can a barrister do their job of vigorously defending their client without eviscerating the alleged victim of the crime? Can they be respectful and empathetic in cross-examination and still do right by their client? What can be done to better prepare witnesses for the rigours of the process and support them after?

Milligan makes several recommendations for change, including actively using protections that already exist within the Evidence Act requiring the court to prevent improper questioning. She challenges the legal profession to become more trauma-informed, to let go of outdated and debunked myths about victims, and to diversify their ranks by encouraging more women and minorities to have more influence in the profession.

As I read Witness, I reflected on my own experiences with the legal system - as a law student, a juror, a witness. I also thought a lot about Bri Lee's excellent book Eggshell Skull (2018) on her experience as a lawyer and a complainant. My sincere hope is that as more voices are heard, and the dinosaurs in the legal profession become extinct, the judicial system will get the shake up in needs and bring about reform.

I have long admired Louise Milligan for her coverage of crimes against the most vulnerable members of our community. She always treats victims and their families with the utmost respect and empathy, yet is always fair and balanced in her reporting. Through her work, Milligan proves that you can do your job thoroughly and professionally, respectfully questioning a subject to get to the truth of a matter. Some barristers could learn a lot from Louise Milligan!

The Talented Ms Highsmith

The nineteenth of January 2021 marks the centenary of author Patricia Highsmith's birth. During her fifty year career she wrote 22 novels and numerous collections of short stories. Best known for her 'Ripliad' - the five psychological thrillers featuring her compelling protagonist Tom Ripley - and her debut novel Strangers on a Train, Highsmith's work have been adapted many times, increasing her popularity.   

As a person, Highsmith was a miserable, depressive, alcoholic, eccentric. She hated most people, including herself. She was openly racist, misogynist and homophobic. Unwanted and abandoned as a child, Highsmith preferred animals to people, and engaged in multiple affairs with married women, often ending due to her infidelity. 

Perhaps it was this well of darkness within her that enabled Highsmith to create such captivating noir stories about unlikable people in desperate situations. In his forward to Highsmith's short story collection Eleven, author Graham Greene writes: 

Miss Highsmith is a poet of apprehension rather than fear. Fear after a time, as we all learned in the blitz, is narcotic, it can lull one by fatigue into sleep, but apprehension nags at the nerves gently and inescapably. We have to learn to live with it.

Greene absolutely nails Highsmith's abilities. She lures readers in to an uncomfortable place with characters who make morally ambiguous choices. Her writing is tight and simple, yet the stories are often complex and multilayered. Her novels creep up on you and you cannot put them down. 

To commemorate the centenary of Highsmith's birth a new collection of short stories has been published. Under a Dark Angel's Eye (2021) features an introduction by author Carmen Maria Machado in which she describes her as a 'genius, a bonafide eccentric' and 'famous for her wit and wicked sense of humour'. Machado notes that readers have to grapple with Highsmith's darkness, and asks 'what does it mean to love the work of Patricia Highsmith'? She answers:

Perhaps they recognise that you don't come to Patricia Highsmith for goodness or light or comfort. You come to her for uncanny observations about human depravity; you come to her because you've forgotten the sour taste of fear.

My reviews of several Highsmith books can be found on this blog, including:

• Deep Water (1957)
• The Talented Mr Ripley (1955)
• The Tremor of Forgery (1969)
• The Two Faces of January (1964)
• This Sweet Sickness (1960)

If you haven't already had the pleasure of being lured into a Highsmith novel or short story, I encourage you to explore her work. 

Planning for 2021

It is the first of January 2021 and as the new year begins I spend time reflecting on my past reading habits, and forward planning for the year ahead. 

As someone who always plans ahead, I even develop a plan for my reading. But if I learned anything from 2020 it is how agile one needs to be to respond to whatever happens on a daily basis. While I have pre-ordered some new releases from the library (like Joan Didion and Joyce Carol Oates), and have acquired a bunch of new books I am keen to sink my teeth in, my plan is not to plan and just see where my moods and interests take me.

I seem to consistently be able to read 30 books each year, but given the uncertainty this pandemic brings, I do not want to increase the volume. Instead I will continue to explore new authors, genres and subject matters. To diversify my reading and to challenge myself to read more fiction, I have created a new Bingo board to add some fun to the challenge.

B	I	N	G	O
Set during Wartime	Retelling of  another story*	Novel in  Translation*	Poetry  Collection	Women's Prize  Longlister
Lesser known book  by a Famous Author	Essay Collection	Set in the Future	Booker Prize  Longlister	About a non-Western  world leader*
Debut  Novel*	19th Century Classic	Published in 2021	Biography  or Memoir	Set in Space or at Sea
Short Story Collection	Australian Literary Prize Longlister	Current Affairs / Politics	Protagonist  is over 50*	Coming of  Age Story*
Pre-19th Century Classic	First Novel in a Series	Book on the 1001 List	Fiction Based on a True Story	Written by a  male author*

Bingo rules: Books can only be used once, even if they fall into multiple categories. 

Bingo can be achieved horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

*New categories 2021

My cousin Graham and I have been joking about how I only read books by women in 2020. He suggested that 2021 could be my year of reading books by men. That ain't gonna happen, but to overcome the gender bias in my reading, I have added a new category this year: Written by a male author. I do have a few books that I have put aside for 2021 so will just have to decide which one it will be - perhaps Richard Flanagan's Living Sea of Waking Dreams, Philip Pullman's The Secret Commonwealth, Douglas Stuart's Shuggie Bain or Barack Obama's A Promised Land. 

Happy reading everyone!

My Reading Year - 2020

2020 was my year of reading women. All the books I read this year were written by women, and while my commitment to reading female authors this year meant some of the male authors I would normally have read were pushed to the sidelines, I took comfort and inspiration in the female voice during this most challenging year.

The pandemic impacted my reading. I was not completely locked in like some of my family and friends - there were no sourdough starters and home DIY projects for me. But my work was all consuming, creating an emotional drain and perpetual anxiety that at times would prevent me from taking my usual pleasure in reading. Once I got my mojo back, I found that reading allowed me the escape I desperately needed, taking me to new worlds and new experiences.

My reading goal for 2020 was 30 books with a focus on fiction, which I achieved by reading 31 titles this year. When planning for 2020 at the start of the year, I did not really name any specific titles, which served me well as I went wherever my interests took me.  Instead I used the reading bingo card I created to help me diversify my reading and my achievements are highlighted below. 

B	I	N	G	O
19th Century Classic	First Novel in a Series	Lesser known Book  by a Famous Author	Features Strong  Female Protagonist	Short Story Collection
Essay Collection	Pre-19th Century Classic	Banned Book	Fiction Based on a True Story	Australian Literary  Prize Longlister
Book on the 1001 List	Women's Prize  Longlister	20th Century Classic	Set in the Future	New York Times Bestseller
Set in Space or at Sea	Mystery or Crime Novel	Booker Prize  Longlister	Published in 2020	Book with a  colour in title
Current Affairs / Politics	Biography  or Memoir	Set during Wartime	Poetry  Collection	Adapted into a Film/TV Show

So here's what I read in 2020:

Fiction

This year I was determined to read some old paperbacks that have been gathering dust on my bookshelves for a long time. Long-neglected titles I read included Muriel Spark's The Driver's Seat (1970), Edith Wharton's Bunner Sisters (1916) and Daphne Du Maurier's Jamaica Inn (1936). While I enjoyed some more than others, I was pleased to have explored these titles and finally read them.

I continued my discovery of Patricia Highsmith's novels and read three in rapid succession. The Tremor of Forgery (1969), This Sweet Sickness (1960) and The Two Faces of January were great fun and these page-turning novels helped me to get my reading mojo back by allowing me to travel in my mind to far-flung locales. I could have easily continued on to read many more Highsmith novels from her extensive works, but decided to pursue other titles instead lest it become the Year of Reading Highsmith!

The Stella Prize Longlist provided me with many hours of reading pleasure. From this list I read two collection of short stories - Josephine Rowe's Here Until August (2019) and Joey Bui's Lucky Ticket (2019) - from authors I would never have otherwise read. I also loved Charlotte Wood's The Weekend (2019), about four older women who have been lifelong friends despite having very little in common. I am disappointed that I did not get to read Tara June Winch's The Yield (2019) but it lies on my bedside table waiting!

Recommendations from friends introduced me to some wonderful titles. I absolutely loved Madeline Miller's Circe (2019). This feminist retelling of this ancient myth from the perspective of Circe, made me long to travel to Greece and reignited my interest in classics. Curtis Sittenfeld's Rodham (2020) was a fascinating alternative history of the Clintons with Hillary dumping Bill and forging a new path on her own. Another alternative perspective on a real person, Kate Grenville's novel A Room Made of Leaves (2020) about Elizabeth Macarthur was simply wonderful. 

I love a good crime thriller and this year I read a few that I would recommend (in addition to the Highsmith novels above).  Jane Harper is always fantastic and her latest novel The Survivors (2020) is excellent. Set in Tasmania, Harper creates an incredible sense of place which provides a backdrop to the twisty-turny crime drama. The newly released Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) novel, Troubled Blood (2020), continues the Cormoran Strike/Robin Ellacott adventures and is a gripping novel. Sarah Bailey's debut The Dark Lake (2017) is great and I look forward to getting to know Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock better in Bailey's subsequent novels. 

I know a book has made a real impact on me when I think about it for days/weeks/months after and long to discuss it with others. This year there were a handful of incredible novels that made a lasting impact.  I read My Dark Vanessa (2020) by Kate Elizabeth Russell and immediately passed it on to two of my friends and we engaged in a lot of discussion about the way in which young people are groomed, shamed and traumatised. Emily St John Mandel's Station Eleven (2014) had me gripped from the first page with its story about the aftermath of a global pandemic. Finally, Maggie O'Farrell's masterpiece, Hamnet (2020) - winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction - is undoubtedly my favourite novel of the year and the one I have most often recommended to others. 

Non-Fiction

Investigative journalists wrote most of the non-fiction I consumed this year.

I began the year reading a fascinating work of non-fiction by Lisa Taddeo. Three Women explores the sexual lives of three young Americans over a decade.  My friends and I discussed this book a lot (along with My Dark Vanessa) as it was such a strangely compelling work. Another book that got me talking was Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone in the Dark (2018) a true crime story about McNamara's quest to solve the decades-old mystery of California's Golden State Killer. 

Julia Baird's Phosphorescence (2020) was just what I needed mid-pandemic when my resilience was wearing thin. Baird is such an excellent writer and in this book she encourages readers to slow down and pay attention to the world around us. It is a magical read and one I have recommended and/or gifted to many people this year. 

The Stella Prize Longlist can also take credit for two non-fiction books I read this year. Mandy Ord's memoir When One Person Dies the World is Over (2019) is a remarkable year-long diary in four panel comic form. While I have read many graphic novels, this is the first graphic non-fiction work I have read. Winner of this year's Stella Prize is Jess Hill's See What You Made Me Do (2019), an incredible investigation into the causes and impacts of domestic abuse. 

Other works I really enjoyed include Amy Goldstein's Janesville - an American Story (2017) about the demise of the auto industry in Wisconsin and its impact on society, Helen Garner's diaries One Day I'll Remember This (2020) and Katherine Murphy's Quarterly Essay - The End of Certainty (2020).

While I really enjoyed all the non-fiction I read this year, if I had to choose one favourite, without hesitation I would select Jess Hill's See What You Made Me Do (2019). I am so thrilled that Jess Hill has been lauded for this important work and I hope that as the book is released in the UK and America it will turn the spotlight on this issue in those countries as well. Despite the heavy subject matter, it is an essential read.

Best of 2020
I read so many great books this year. I loved and highly recommend:

• Madeline Miller - Circe
• Emily St John Mandel - Station Eleven
• Kate Elizabeth Russell - My Dark Vanessa 
• Jane Harper - The Survivors
• Charlotte Wood - The Weekend 
• Kate Grenville - A Room Made of Leaves 

If I had to choose my absolute favourites, I would pick Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet (2020) and Jess Hill's See What You Made Me Do.

Postcards from Sydney

The second volume of Helen Garner's diaries, One Day I'll Remember This (2020), focusses on the period 1987-1995. It is time of transition for Garner as she has moved to Sydney after the end of her marriage to F.  She begins an affair with V, another writer, who is married when they meet. Now in her late forties, she is experiencing the onset of menopause and the invisibility of women as they age. 

During this period, Garner is busily working on a screenplay (The Last Days of Chez Nous), a novel (Cosmo Cosmolino), a work of non-fiction (The First Stone) and writing film reviews. She is invited to literary festivals and takes up a residency in New York City. These are years of great professional output, and her diaries give insight to her process and her insecurities as a writer. She writes

'I will probably never write anything large, lasting, solid or influential. Is this a proper life I am leading?' (p134)

We know now that nothing could be further from the truth, but I wonder how much of her insecurity might have come from her relationship with V.  Eventually V will leave his wife, Helen will move in with him, and in 1992 they will marry. V is Murray Bail, author of award-winning novels Homesickness (1980) and Eucalyptus (1998) among others. The two have completely different approaches as writers, and throughout the diaries it is clear that Bail put his own needs above Garner's. 

Garner's relationship with Bail is a mystery to me. As seen through her eyes, Bail is arrogant, privileged and uncompromising. He may have been inspiring to her as an intellectual and creative, but he is no real partner to her. She describes their interactions and there were many times where I was angered on her behalf for his behaviour.

Like her previous volume of diaries, Yellow Notebook: Diaries Volume 1 - 1978-1987 (2019) Garner is at her unfiltered best when writing about the world around her. She is vulnerable, witty and curious. Her relationships with friends are fascinating, particularly where they intersect with her work - as they do when she publishes Cosmo Cosmolino which alienates certain friends. Her family too is interesting - particularly the interactions between Helen's father and her partner. 

What comes across strongly in One Day I'll Remember This is Helen's longing to find a home. She writes about her displacement, of not being settled in Sydney, and her desire to have place she feels at home in. There is a tinge of sadness throughout these diaries, despite the professional success. 

The publication of these diaries is a huge gift to Garner fans but may also appeal to aspiring writers. I look forward to the next instalment. 

Cold Case

Forty years ago Dr Margot Bamborough left her GP clinic after working late, rushing to meet a girlfriend at a local pub in Clerkenwell, London. She never arrived, disappearing without a trace. Her daughter Anna, an infant at the time of Margot's disappearance, needs closure and engages London's most famous detective, Cormoran Strike, to find the truth of what happened.

Troubled Blood (2020) is the fifth instalment of the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling). It is a whopper of a novel (at 900 pages it is almost double the length of the first Strike book - The Cuckoo's Calling) with so many twists, subplots, red herrings and intrigue that it can be a challenge to keep all the threads of the story together in the reader's mind. But for fans of the series there is a lot on offer as we see the lead characters of Strike and his business partner Robin Ellacott develop and their relationship mature. Plus there is a cracker of a mystery to solve.

What I love about this series is how the main characters are depicted as complex, whole people. Often in crime novels the protagonists are all about the job and you don't get to see the impact of their personal lives on their work. In Troubled Blood, both Strike and Ellacott are juggling the pressures of work and family. Strike's beloved aunt is battling terminal illness, his father is trying to reconnect, and various step/half siblings and his former flame Charlotte are vying for his attention. Meanwhile Robin is divorcing her husband, fending off unwanted attention from a work colleague, and figuring out that the unconventional lifestyle of a private detective is what she wants from her career. Rowling has created well-rounded, fallible and endearing characters, especially for her two leads.

There is so much controversy around this novel that it cannot go unmentioned. Even before the book was published there were calls for it to be banned by people who consider JK Rowling transphobic from her comments about gender identity, which she revealed on Twitter and in an essay. I do not agree with or condone her views in any way, but I also do not believe she should be cancelled. 

That is not to say that gender is not explored in this novel, it most definitely is: abortion, pornography, sexual harassment, sexuality, reproductive rights, motherhood, rape, domestic violence and more permeate Troubled Blood.  Plus, as the plot revolves around a cold case, many of these issue are explored in two time horizons from the 1970s and 2016 which makes for a more nuanced read. 

I have previously read and enjoyed Robin and Strike's adventures in The Cuckoo's Calling (2013), The Silkworm (2014), Career of Evil (2016) and Lethal White (2018). For the first time I listened to the audiobook of Troubled Blood, performed by Robert Glenister while reading the text alongside and greatly enjoyed his characterisation. Highly recommended.

Beloved

Margaret Atwood has just published her first collection of poetry in over a decade. Dearly (2020) covers a range of topics - love and loss, climate change, language, memory - in an overall sombre tone but with Atwood's wry humour. Ever a keen observer, Atwood writes of the natural world - birds, wolves, leaves, flowers - with admiration and marvel.

Grief is a theme throughout Dearly. Dedicated to her partner, Graeme Gibson, who died in 2019 after more than four decades together, Atwood is now an octogenarian and has lost many people close to her.  She writes of loss of memory, ageing and dying.  

The title poem is magnificent. The author shuffles through old photographs and remembers the time spent with her beloved partner. It is a heartbreaking tale of loss and remembrance of things past. She writes

Dearly beloved, we gather here together

in this closed drawer,

fading now, I miss you.

I miss the missing, those who left earlier.

I miss even those who are still here.

I miss you all dearly.

Dearly do I sorrow for you.

In the poem 'Oh Children' she laments the future world in which climate change has ravaged the world. She wonders what the world will be like without crickets, birds, mice and moss. 

But not all the poems are so sorrowful. In 'Frida Kahlo, San Miguel, Ash Wednesday' Atwood writes of memes and souvenirs bearing images of the artist. In 'Sad Utensils' she describes the absence of the word 'reft' which has fallen out of favour.  

Atwood's poem 'Princess Clothing', reminded me of one of my favourite poems, Dorothy Parker's 'The Satin Dress'. She canvasses what a woman should wear - wool? cotton? silk? - to avoid the judgement of others. Ever the feminist, Atwood takes aim at the fickleness of trendsetters and the need to please others, she writes

Oh beware,

uncover your hair

or else they will burn down your castle.

Wait a minute. Cover it!

Hair. So controversial. 

Extraterrestrials make an appearance in this collection - 'The Aliens Arrive' is a humorous take on nine late night movies, for example: 

The aliens arrive.

They are smarter than us, and carnivorous.

You know the rest.

Whether she is describing her mother asleep 'curled up like a spring fern' (in 'Blizzard'), or passport photos with 'the sullen jacket stare of a woman who's just been arrested' (in 'Passports'), Atwood has a magnificent turn of phrase. 

In any collection of poetry there are verses that appeal immediately and others which do not resonate. I often find that I return to poetry collections again and again and find meaning in different verse on each encounter. Poetry is so deeply tied to my mood as a reader that I reach for favourites to help me shift my mindset when needed. In Dearly, there are a handful of poems that will be added to my favourites list for future recitation.

I am a huge fan of Atwood's writing and reviews of her novels Alias Grace (1996), Oryx and Crake (2003), The Handmaid's Tale (1985) and The Testaments (2019) also appear on this blog.

Booker Prize Winner 2020

The winner of the 2020 Booker Prize for fiction was announced in a wonderful online ceremony, awarding the £50,000 prize to debut novelist Douglas Stuart for Shuggie Bain. 

Set in Glasgow in the 1980s, Shuggie Bain is the story of a dysfunctional family growing up in poverty. Agnes Bain, a single mother trying to raise her children, is addicted by alcoholism. Her children leave the family home in an effort to survive, but her son Shuggie stays. This is the story of mother and child.

I am so thrilled that Douglas Stuart won this year's award. Scotland is deep in my heart and I love novels set there. I have been saving Shuggie Bain to read on my Christmas holidays so I will provide my review at that time.

In the meantime, here is a video of the Booker Prize judges talking about why they chose this novel to win this year.

Death Becomes Her

Septuagenarian widow Vesta Gul is walking her beloved dog Charlie in the birch woods near her home when she stumbles across a handwritten note on the path, pinned to the ground with small black stones. The obscure message sparks the action that propels this novel:

Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body.

Vesta looks around and sees no evidence of a body, no clothing, no disturbance that would indicate that Magda is or was nearby. She pockets the note and sets off determined to find out what happened to Magda.

Living the life of a hermit, Vesta has a simple existence without a phone or TV in a cabin by a lake that was once part of an old Girl Scouts camp.  She drives into town once a week to stock up on library books and groceries, but has no real social network, spending her time talking to her dog and engaging in imagined conversations with her late husband, Walter. Her efforts to solve the mystery of Magda drive Vesta to the brink of her fragile 'mindspace' as she creates a persona for the victim and a list of potential suspects.  

Ottessa Moshfegh's Death in her Hands (2020) is a strange little novel. Written in first person, the author is deep inside the head of her protagonist - an unlikable, unstable, bitter woman - and the reader is never certain what is real and what are delusions. Vesta is a heartbreaking character who has been disappointed throughout her life, and this regret manifests itself in the imagined life she creates for the people around her.

Death in her Hands is cleverly written and easy to read, but I am honestly not sure how I feel about it. My engagement with the novel ebbed and flowed over the few hours I spent reading it. Gripped at the start, about forty pages in I thought about giving up, continued on and became enthralled, and then ended flat and perplexed. While Moshfegh is a talented writer who can weave a multilayered story, I definitely feel something was missing here and wonder what it was all about.

Recent Reads

Here's what I have been reading lately, with links to my reviews:

• Sarah Bailey - The Dark Lake 
• Rachel Cusk - Outline
• Daphne Du Maurier - Jamaica Inn
• Amy Goldstein - Janesville: An American Story
• Jane Harper - The Survivors
• Emily St John Mandel - Station Eleven
• Michelle McNamara - I'll Be Gone in the Dark
• Muriel Spark - The Driver's Seat

The Heart of America

With the American election only one week away, I have been engrossed in following US politics - not just the Presidential race, but down ballot contests which have the ability to influence the direction of the nation for years to come. Perhaps it is my lifelong fascination with America or my poli-sci proclivity, but my curiosity is insatiable. 

As I was watching the news about American COVID cases surging, Trump rallies and joblessness, I spotted an unread book on my shelf and knew that it was the perfect time to read it. Over the past few evenings I read Amy Goldstein's Janesville - An American Story (2017), a deep dive into America's industrial heartland and the devastating toll of the global financial crisis. 

Two days before Christmas in 2008 the General Motors plant in Janesville, Wisconsin closed its doors. The plant had opened in 1919 and for the better part of a century had churned out automobiles. Generations of families had been employed by the company, or in associated businesses that created parts for the vehicle and services for its workers. With the economy contracting and consumers turning away from larger SUVs, GM was heading towards bankruptcy and the Janesville plant was chosen for closure. 

Suddenly over 9000 people were left without work. Some took transfers to other GM plants, and became known as GM gypsies, carpooling to drive over 400 kilometres to Fort Wayne or other midwestern cities where they could work during the week before returning home to their families for brief weekend visits. Others went back to college to try to gain a new qualification in the hopes of restarting in a new career. And many waited - taking low-paid, insecure, temporary work - firmly believing that GM would reopen as it had done before. But the Janesville Assembly Plant didn't, and more business closed including the Parker Pen company (founded in Janesville). 

Amy Goldstein, Washington Post staff writer, turns her investigative lens on Janesville and follows several families over the next six years. She documents the devastating impact of the GM closure on individuals, families and the entire community. Goldstein also follows the political fortune of Janesville local Paul Ryan, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives and 2016 Vice-Presidential candidate. There are deep lessons to be learned from the failure of government interventions (auto industry bailouts and retraining programs) which divided this community and gave way to the rise of Trump.

Prior to the closure, GM paid its employees well and, in turn, GM employees were generous in their community, participating in charity drives and supporting various causes. With the loss of their incomes, and their replacement wages more than halved, many ex-GMers found themselves uninsured, their house values shrinking, losing the lifestyle they had been accustomed to. Indeed, many suffered from depression, poverty and homelessness and needed to rely on the many charities they previously supported.  One of the most fascinating insights of Goldstein's book, was the failure of programs to retrain retrenched workers, as those who did not undertake the training ended up better off.

Goldstein is a talented writer and compelling story-teller. She writes with empathy and intellect, and avoids being judgemental or preachy. Janesville is ultimately a tale of hope and endurance. 

I first heard Amy Goldstein speak at the 2018 Sydney Writers' Festival. At the time I thought her book would be a great companion read to JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy (2016) and it absolutely is. Both are wonderful books for anyone wanting to understand what is happening in America and why midwest states like Wisconsin are battlegrounds in this election.  If you don't have time to read Janesville, PBS Newshour interviewed Goldstein and some of the families she writes about in a brief video available online which I highly recommend.

Not My Type

Muriel Spark's The Driver's Seat (1970) is a fast-paced novella that tosses the reader around so much it causes whiplash, as we attempt to keep pace with an unpredictable woman desperate to be in control of her own destiny.

Lise is a perplexing protagonist. We know little about her: she is in her early thirties; five-foot-six; lives alone; has worked her entire career at an accountant's office; she rarely takes time off. She also has strong views and knows what is and isn't 'her type'.

We meet her at a shop where she is trying on dresses. The sales assistant advises her that the dress she is wearing is made of a new stain-resistant material. At this Lise flies into a rage, tearing off the dress and saying 'get this thing off me. Off me at once'. Lise is insulted and shouts at the sales assistant  'Do you think I spill things on my clothes?... Do I look as if I don't eat properly?' From this interaction, we learn that Lise is prone to big emotions and mood swings. We see this again when she farewells her boss that afternoon for her vacation as she laughs hysterically then erupts in tears. Something ain't right.

Lise is flying to an unnamed city in Europe for her holiday. She boards the plan in her newly purchased dress - 'lemon-yellow top with a skirt patterned in bright V's of orange, mauve and blue' of washable cotton (not stain-resistant). Lise is one for bold, contrasting colours and designs - clothes that cause double-takes of passers-by and murmured comments of other women. She takes her seat on the plane between two men and makes a quick assessment to determine which may be her 'type'. 

Just as I was beginning to wonder what this book was about, Spark shocks the reader with the opening to chapter three when we learn that Lise will be found dead the next day. Suddenly, I was hooked. What happened to her? 

Over the next 24 hours Lise meets various people, purchases odd souvenirs (a scarf, a blender), rebuffs the attentions of men ('Go away, you're not my type'), and has a number of bizarre encounters. Lise is continually trying to be in control (the driver's seat) but we never know what is going on in her mind. We just understand her to be erratic and self-destructive, making choices that will lead to her death.  

I read this book in one sitting, and have mulled it over for the past few days to try and gather my thoughts. I enjoyed many aspects of the writing - Spark's swipes at fashion trends, macrobiotics and religion; her tight turn of phrase and the foreshadowing she uses - but also found it dragged in sections (shopping with Mrs Fiedke). The final chapter where we learn of Lise's end is magnificent. 

Ultimately, I am not sure that this book was my type, as I found it a bit uneven, but I am glad I took the ride. Also, I absolutely love the cover on the Penguin Classics version (pictured) - it is perfect. 

My review of Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) is also available on this blog.