Georgia Blain

A stunning, award-winning novel about the complexities of family relationships and ultimately what it means to be alive.Outside, the rain continues unceasing; silver sheets sluicing down, the trees and shrubs soaking and bedraggled, the earth sodden, puddles overflowing, torrents coursing onwards, as the darkness slowly softens with the dawn.Ester is a family therapist with an appointment book that catalogues the anxieties of the middle class: loneliness, relationships, death. She spends her days helping others find happiness, but her own family relationships are tense and frayed. Estranged from both her sister, April, and her ex-husband, Lawrence, Ester wants to fall in love again. Meanwhile, April is struggling through her own directionless life; Lawrence'apos;s reckless past decisions are catching up with him; and Ester and April's mother, Hilary, is about to make a choice that will profoundly affect them all.Taking place largely over one rainy day in Sydney, and rendered with the evocative and powerful prose Blain is known for,Between a Wolf and a Dog is a celebration of the best in all of us - our capacity to live in the face of ordinary sorrows, and to draw strength from the transformative power of art. Ultimately, it is a joyous tribute to the beauty of being alive.

Between a Wolf and a Dog

In late 2015, Georgia Blain was diagnosed with a tumour sitting right in the language centre of her brain. Prior to this, Georgia’s only warning had been a niggling sense that her speech was slightly awry. She ignored it, and on a bright spring day, as she was mowing the lawn, she collapsed on a bed of blossoms, blood frothing at her mouth. Waking up to find herself in the back of an ambulance being rushed to hospital, she tries to answer questions, but is unable to speak. After the shock of a bleak prognosis and a long, gruelling treatment schedule, she immediately turns to writing to rebuild her language and herself. At the same time, her mother, Anne Deveson, moves into a nursing home with Alzheimer’s; weeks earlier, her best friend and mentor had been diagnosed with the same brain tumour. All three of them are writers, with language at the core of their being. The Museum of Words is a meditation on writing, reading, first words and last words, picking up thread after thread as it builds on each story to become a much larger narrative. This idiosyncratic and deeply personal memoir is a writer’s take on how language shapes us, and how often we take it for granted — until we are in danger of losing it.

a memoir of language, writing, and mortality

The Museum of Words

"A beautifully atmospheric mystery about family, politics and murder in an idyllic Sydney suburb. Amanda Clarke is dead. Her body was found floating facedown by the riverbank, and no one knows what happened. As rumours fly and fear grows, it seems that everyone suspects Lyndon, one of Amanda's friends. He's known for his temper, his cruelty and his criminal family - and now the police want to talk to him. It's the end of summer, 1973, the heat is enough to melt asphalt and a sleepy riverside suburb is losing some of its innocence. Fifteen-year-old Winter went to the same school and hung out in the same places as Amanda. As she finds herself alone in trying to defend Lyndon, Winter learns that you can never really know someone - and the answers she has been looking for are closer than she has ever wanted to believe."

Darkwater

Christos Tsiolkas

Judy Nunn

Craig Silvey

Alex Miller

Rachael Treasure

Malla Nunn

Nick Earls

Mark Dapin

Includes stories by: Maggie Alderson, Georgia Blain, Mark Dapin, Nick Earls, Alex Miller, Judy Nunn, Malla Nunn, Craig Silvey, Rachael Treasure, Christos Tsiolkas.

Ten Short Stories You Must Read in 2010

Ne laissez personne choisir à votre place ! "Ils se servent de nous. Parfois pour combler une lacune, parfois pour tester un nouveau profil. Ils se servent de nous pour les réglages, pour affiner un modèle. Nous ne sommes que des prototypes de travail. Ils encouragent nos parents, ou les soudoient. Les miens se sont entendus dire que je serais belle s'ils choisissaient l'option préconisée par BioPerfect. Je l'ai dévisagée. Je n'avais jamais pensé qu'on puisse être autre chose qu'une Lotto girl. C'est-à-dire une fille particulièrement douée, au patrimoine génétique exceptionnel. Une fille unique en son genre...".

Lotto girl

"I am a Lotto Girl. I should not be here. Why haven't they come for me? Fern Marlow is alone, datawiped and in hiding. Her mobie says she's Delia Greene, a ReCorp refuse sorter. Every day she queues to work, to earn just enough to stay alive. Every night she dreams of the past and the life she's meant to be living, back at Halston, an exclusive school for those wealthy enough u or lucky enough u to be genetically designed. Her rescuers said her former life was a lie, that she can trust no one. They also said they'd come back for her, and they haven't. Fern doesn't know who to believe. To uncover the truth, and save herself, Fern must answer the one question she can't face. Is she special? An alarming glimpse into our future from acclaimed Australian author Georgia Blain. 'Terrifying, prophetic and beautiful' - James Bradley, author of CLADE"

Special

Thinking back to a family holiday at Candelo, Ursula recalls a time when the power of place mingled with the impetuousness of youth and the heat of the desolate town. Choices were made without thinking. Young lives came together and would never be the same again. Years on, as Ursula confronts decisions that are not so easy to make, an intriguing mystery unfolds. Revelations collide with memories of Candelo - and some breathtaking secrets come to light.

Candelo

A brutally honest account of love, marriage, families and death. It wasn't until years later that I realised the obvious - the difference between us and the mythical normal family I was certain existed, was in fact the fictiona There is always so much more and it swims, shimmering beneath the surface, glittering with all the inherent contradictions of who we are, the changes that time brings and the very elusiveness of a life slipping through our fingers. Births Deaths Marriageis about life and how we really live it. These true tales move from visits to nudist communes, to losing your virginity; to going to couples' counseling and coping with death in the family. From a bohemian childhood in the seventies to becoming a mother and a writer, Georgia Blain explores a new land - true life in all its extraordinary richness - taking us deep into the heart of how we love, learn, fail, and try to learn again.

Births Deaths Marriages

The place, the impetuousness of youth, the heat of a desolate town. Choices made unthinkingly. Young lives that would never be the same again, and the secrets that come to light years after.

I am a Lotto Girl. I should not be here. Why haven't they come for me? Fern Marlow is alone, datawiped and in hiding. Her mobie says she's Delia Greene, a ReCorp refuse sorter. Every day she queues to work, to earn just enough to stay alive. Every night she dreams of the past and the life she's meant to be living, back at Halston, an exclusive school for those wealthy enough - or lucky enough - to be genetically designed. Her rescuers said her former life was a lie, that she can trust no one. They also said they'd come back for her, and they haven't. Fern doesn't know who to believe. To uncover the truth, and save herself, Fern must answer the one question she can't face. Is she special? An alarming glimpse into our future from acclaimed Australian author Georgia Blain. 'Terrifying, prophetic and beautiful' - James Bradley, author of CLADE

Georgia Blain & Libby Baulch

Recent Developments in Copyright

In these thirteen short stories, Georgia Blain examines human nature in all its richness: out motivations, out desires and our shortcomings. The men in these tales frequently linger at the edges - their longings and failures exerting a subterranean pull on the women in their lives. In 'The Secret Lives of Men', a woman revisits her hometown and learns a long-held secret about her first boyfriend. In 'The Bad dog Park', a man's devotion to his dog ultimately forces him to confront his true hopes and fears. And in 'The Other Side of the River', we watch as a woman makes a snap decision about her life's future direction, with devastating consequences for her family. Written in Blain's trademark unadorned yet powerful prose, these stories resonate long after they are finished.'A haunting, unsentimental exploration of the vexations and joys of modern life, family, love and desire.' Kirsten TranterThe Secret Live of Men is an exceptional collection by one of Australia's leading writers.

The Secret Lives of Men

Nothing is as vivid, or as strange, as the memory of our school days. As a child Georgia Blain craved normality. With both parents in the public eye and the 1970s in full swing, she dreamt of a family more like the versions depicted in her mother's weekly newspaper column. At the end of her primary years, Georgia is given the opportunity to reinvent herself, change schools and begin Opportunity Class, only to discover that all environments expose Strange Times. From the acclaimed collection of true tales Births Deaths Marriages.

Strange Times

In her final year at school, Caitlin meets Fraser, a Satya Deva devotee, on the bus. Her life is instantly changed, and she gives up everything to be with him and to follow his faith. Her past means nothing to her - all that matters is that she is with her new family, a family who can give her what she needs as she pursues a path that involves denying the person she once was and the people she once loved. Her parents, Liam and Sharn, have reached an impasse. Sharn spends her days resenting Liam and his inaction; Liam spends his watching video footage of his family in happier times. With Caitlin's sudden disappearance, the relationship is stretched even further, almost to breaking point. When Sharn finally tracks Caitlin down, what she discovers will force her to take matters into her own hands. If her daughter won't come home, she'll make her.

Names for Nothingness

A brutally honest account of love, marriage, families and death. It wasn't until years later that I realised the obvious - the difference between us and the mythical normal family I was certain existed, was in fact the fictiona There is always so much more and it swims, shimmering beneath the surface, glittering with all the inherent contradictions of who we are, the changes that time brings and the very elusiveness of a life slipping through our fingers. Births Deaths Marriage is about life and how we really live it. These true tales move from visits to nudist communes, to losing your virginity; to going to couples' counseling and coping with death in the family. From a bohemian childhood in the seventies to becoming a mother and a writer, Georgia Blain explores a new land - true life in all its extraordinary richness - taking us deep into the heart of how we love, learn, fail, and try to learn again.

True Tales

"The story is told through the eyes of Ursula, an out of work actress, who is drifting through life. She is haunted by her past and, in particular, the fateful summer spent with her eccentric family as a teenager at a wild and remote farmhouse, Candelo, on the south coast of Australia where she first falls in love. The holiday ends in disaster- a terrible accident takes place that changes all their lives. Ursula must confront the past and come to terms with truths about herself, and her family, before she can move on and truly exist in the the present."

Snake in the Grass

The Blind Eye captures brilliantly the enervating spirit of an emptied town.' - The Age.

The Blind Eye

"Shortlisted for the Barbara Jefferiss Award. Too Close To Home takes us right inside who we really are. How tenuous the links are that build a life. Freya writes uncomfortable domestic dramas. Her friends work in theatre and film, show in galleries, talk politics and are trying new ways of having children with friends. These are the people who are slowly gentrifying the next ring of inner-city suburbs while praising their diversity. As the stultifying heat of summer descends, Shane, an Aboriginal man, moves up the road. He was once close to Matt, Freya's partner, and he not only brings with him a different approach to life, he also has news of a boy who might be Matt's son. Despite wanting to embrace all that Shane represents and the possibility of another child in their life, Freya and Matt stumble, failing each other and their beliefs."

Too Close to Home

Something happened that day on the jetty ... A haunting novel of family secrets.

Georgia Blain

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