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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Summertime in Italy, fresh vegetables from the garden, taking turns washing dishes, reading to each other, learning about cherry worms. Strange how badly I could punish myself for abandoning you once, then go and do it again.
'After weeks of grieving, a woman books a plane ticket bound for an old villa in the mountains of Abruzzo. Invited to stay with her friends Giulia and Fab - in the weeks before they marry in a village orchard - she lives for a summer in the house's Birthing Room, where generations of women once had their babies.
'More often, though, she lives in her head: in the past, trying to make sense of her grief and wondering how to go on, or if she can.
'As her inner and outer worlds spar and converge, she passes the time helping with the household chores, walking in the sunshine and plucking fruit from the nearby orchards, all while dwelling on the moments with her father that might have warned her something was wrong.
'This spare, stunning novel explores the workings of the self in the wake of devastation and deep regret, and reveals the infinite ways that the everyday offers solace and hope.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Author's note: To my family
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
Works about this Work
-
A Personal Exercise
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2022;
— Review of Sunbathing : A Novel 2022 single work novel -
Isobel Beech : Sunbathing
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , October 2022;
— Review of Sunbathing : A Novel 2022 single work novel 'Isobel Beech’s debut novel explores the grief left behind by a father’s suicide.' -
Getting Sad or Getting Mad : Three New Novels Exploring Women’s Suffering
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 445 2022; (p. 26-27)
— Review of Blue Hour 2022 single work novel ; Bone Memories 2022 single work novel ; Sunbathing : A Novel 2022 single work novel -
Isobel Beech Sunbathing
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 4-10 June 2022;
— Review of Sunbathing : A Novel 2022 single work novel'Sunbathing might sound like a relaxing holiday read but it is in fact an absorbing study of the grief of a nameless young woman who has lost her father to suicide. Isobel Beech makes apparent how complex grief can be in these circumstances and does so with an authority grounded in personal experience. Beech has acknowledged the autobiographical foundation of this book, which is written in first person and reads just like a memoir. Yet Sunbathing is subtitled “A novel”.' (Introduction)
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‘Exquisite’, ‘Extraordinary’, ‘Insightful’ : The Best Australian Books Out in May
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 2 May 2022;
— Review of Homesickness : A Memoir 2022 single work autobiography ; Bedtime Story 2022 single work autobiography ; Here Goes Nothing 2022 single work novel ; Sunbathing : A Novel 2022 single work novel
-
‘Exquisite’, ‘Extraordinary’, ‘Insightful’ : The Best Australian Books Out in May
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 2 May 2022;
— Review of Homesickness : A Memoir 2022 single work autobiography ; Bedtime Story 2022 single work autobiography ; Here Goes Nothing 2022 single work novel ; Sunbathing : A Novel 2022 single work novel -
Isobel Beech Sunbathing
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 4-10 June 2022;
— Review of Sunbathing : A Novel 2022 single work novel'Sunbathing might sound like a relaxing holiday read but it is in fact an absorbing study of the grief of a nameless young woman who has lost her father to suicide. Isobel Beech makes apparent how complex grief can be in these circumstances and does so with an authority grounded in personal experience. Beech has acknowledged the autobiographical foundation of this book, which is written in first person and reads just like a memoir. Yet Sunbathing is subtitled “A novel”.' (Introduction)
-
Getting Sad or Getting Mad : Three New Novels Exploring Women’s Suffering
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 445 2022; (p. 26-27)
— Review of Blue Hour 2022 single work novel ; Bone Memories 2022 single work novel ; Sunbathing : A Novel 2022 single work novel -
Isobel Beech : Sunbathing
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , October 2022;
— Review of Sunbathing : A Novel 2022 single work novel 'Isobel Beech’s debut novel explores the grief left behind by a father’s suicide.' -
A Personal Exercise
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2022;
— Review of Sunbathing : A Novel 2022 single work novel
Awards
- 2023 longlisted Booksellers Choice Award BookPeople Book of the Year — Adult Fiction Book of the Year
- 2023 longlisted Indie Awards — Debut Fiction
- 2022 shortlisted Readings Prizes — Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction
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cItaly,cWestern Europe, Europe,