Michelle de Kretser

Theory & Practice

WINNER OF THE STELLA PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025 'The most thrilling fiction of the year ... an absolute triumph' Catherine Taylor, Financial Times 'A genre-busting inquiry into life and art, youth and Virginia Woolf' Guardian, Books to Look Forward to 2025 'I loved Theory & Practice ... raw, funny, truthful, youthful' Tessa Hadley 'Michelle de Kretser is to my mind one of the finest writers alive and Theory & Practice a lightning strike of a book' Ali Smith It's 1986, and 'beautiful, radical ideas' are in the air. A young woman arrives in Melbourne to research the novels of Virginia Woolf. In bohemian St Kilda, she meets artists, activists, students - and Kit. He claims to be in a 'deconstructed' relationship, and they become lovers. Meanwhile, a dismaying discovery throws her work on 'the Woolfmother' into disarray. Theory & Practice is a mesmerising account of desire and jealousy, truth and shame. It makes and unmakes fiction as we read, expanding our notion of what a novel can contain. Michelle de Kretser, one of Australia's most celebrated writers, bends fiction, essay and memoir into exhilarating new shapes to uncover what happens when life smashes through the boundaries of art.

Food for thought, perhaps too much to digest

Isabella

WINNER OF THE STELLA PRIZE A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice "Theory & Practice is a thrillingly original hybrid work that seeks truthful answers to the most difficult questions of the day—questions about the nature of love, art, and desire, about the thorny cultural legacy of colonialism and the unappeasable human yearning for connection." —Sigrid Nunez, author of The Vulnerables A new novel of startling intelligence from prizewinning Australian author Michelle de Kretser, following a writer looking back on her young adulthood and grappling with what happens when life smashes through the boundaries of art It’s 1986, and “beautiful, radical ideas” are in the air. The narrator of Theory & Practice, a young woman originally from Sri Lanka, arrives in Melbourne for graduate school to research the novels of Virginia Woolf. In the bohemian neighborhood of St. Kilda she meets artists, activists, students—and Kit. He claims to be in a “deconstructed relationship.” They become lovers, and the narrator’s feminism comes up against her jealousy. Meanwhile, an entry in Woolf’s diary upends what the narrator knows about her literary idol, and throws her own work into disarray. What happens when our desires run contrary to our beliefs? What should we do when the failings of revered figures come to light? Who is shamed when the truth is told? Michelle de Kretser’s new novel offers a spellbinding meditation on the moral complexities that arise in the gap between our values and our lives.

A Novel

"I wanted to join the bourgeoisie and I wanted to destroy it."

From the first few pages, I was convinced I was going to hate this — the form seemed unbearable. But it suddenly slipped into a smooth weaving between, as the title suggests, theory and practice. 

Following a Woolf scholar who carries Virginia Woolf’s once-groundbreaking ideas into her daily life to confront feminist and patriarchal structures. The writing is witty, clever and often reminiscent of Atwood. 

At its core, this is a novel about a woman looking back on her young adulthood in late-80s Melbourne. There are some excellent reflections on mother–daughter relationships, with literary idols positioned as a kind of alternative mother-figure. At times it felt distinctly autobiographical and even intrusive to read, but it was exceptional for that very reason. 

Overall, I think this is a novel that will especially resonate with readers who have studied or love studying literary theory.

g.m.

"I wanted to join the bourgeoisie and I wanted to destroy it."

From the first few pages, I was convinced I was going to hate this — the form seemed unbearable. But it suddenly slipped into a smooth weaving between, as the title suggests, theory and practice. 


Following a Woolf scholar who carries Virginia Woolf’s once-groundbreaking ideas into her daily life to confront feminist and patriarchal structures. The writing is witty, clever and often reminiscent of Atwood. 


At its core, this is a novel about a woman looking back on her young adulthood in late-80s Melbourne. There are some excellent reflections on mother–daughter relationships, with literary idols positioned as a kind of alternative mother-figure. At times it felt distinctly autobiographical and even intrusive to read, but it was exceptional for that very reason. 


Overall, I think this is a novel that will especially resonate with readers who have studied or love studying literary theory.

Theory & Practice

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