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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'An expat photographer returns to Australia to make sense of his traumatic childhood and the disappearance of his former girlfriend.
'Where the Light Falls tells the story of Andrew, a photographer in his 30s who comes back to Australia when he hears that his former girlfriend has disappeared. By the time he gets back, her body has been found, and everything points to suicide, though the coroner's findings are left open. As Andrew unravels the mystery of her death, he puts his current relationship at risk for reasons he barely understands. At the same time he meets a damaged teenage girl whom he knows will be a riveting subject for his new series of photos. As he struggles to understand why his ex's death has affected him so viscerally, Andrew realises that photography has become an obsession predicated on his need to hold on to the things he has lost in his life. He finds himself re- evaluating his past, his art, and what he wants his life to mean.
'This is a stunning, gripping and deeply moving novel from a young writer whose star is on the rise.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Epigraph: Art is not about art. Art is about life. –Louise Bourgeois
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also large print.
Works about this Work
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Gretchen Shirm, Where the Light Falls
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Long Paddock , vol. 76 no. 3 2017; 'At the heart of Gretchen Shirm’s novel Where the Light Falls is a meditation on silence, and art as of a means of speaking. The novel’s protagonist, Andrew Spruce, is an art photographer who sees “honesty in broken things” (298), choosing subjects that are damaged in some way: a fractured tea cup that has been glued back together, a grown man with a full set of baby teeth, a girl with a paralysed face. Through framing and capturing a broken subject, Andrew is able to transform it—a metaphor for integrating traumatic experiences into reality. Shirm writes, “A photograph could do this: it could make strangeness seem normal and transform it into a thing of beauty” (205). In this novel, the act of representing is ultimately a means of healing.' (Introduction) -
[Review Essay] Where the Light Falls
2017
single work
essay
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January-February no. 388 2017; (p. 51)'In the midst of preparing for an important London exhibition, photographer Andrew is drawn back to Australia by the sudden disappearance of his former girlfriend, Kirsten. His compulsion to resolve this troubled relationship evolves into a desire to account for an earlier loss. As Andrew grapples with his ambivalence about a new photographic subject, and his ability to sustain the ‘small, bright miracle’ of his present-day relationship with Dominique in Berlin, the complex role of photography in his life is redefined.'
(Introduction)
-
Gretchen Shirm, Where the Light Falls
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 16 July 2016;
— Review of Where the Light Falls 2016 single work novel -
Where the Light Falls Review : Gretchen Shirm's Deftly Written First Novel
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 16 July 2016;
— Review of Where the Light Falls 2016 single work novel 'As someone with more than a passing interest in the visual arts, I love novels that feature art or photography. Perhaps because I have a tendency to "frame" the world, a novel with a strong visual element allows me to read it almost as if I was already seeing it as a film. It's the icing on the cake if it's done well. ...'
-
Where the Light Falls Review : Gretchen Shirm's Deftly Written First Novel
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 16 July 2016;
— Review of Where the Light Falls 2016 single work novel 'As someone with more than a passing interest in the visual arts, I love novels that feature art or photography. Perhaps because I have a tendency to "frame" the world, a novel with a strong visual element allows me to read it almost as if I was already seeing it as a film. It's the icing on the cake if it's done well. ...' -
Gretchen Shirm, Where the Light Falls
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 16 July 2016;
— Review of Where the Light Falls 2016 single work novel -
[Review Essay] Where the Light Falls
2017
single work
essay
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January-February no. 388 2017; (p. 51)'In the midst of preparing for an important London exhibition, photographer Andrew is drawn back to Australia by the sudden disappearance of his former girlfriend, Kirsten. His compulsion to resolve this troubled relationship evolves into a desire to account for an earlier loss. As Andrew grapples with his ambivalence about a new photographic subject, and his ability to sustain the ‘small, bright miracle’ of his present-day relationship with Dominique in Berlin, the complex role of photography in his life is redefined.'
(Introduction)
-
Gretchen Shirm, Where the Light Falls
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Long Paddock , vol. 76 no. 3 2017; 'At the heart of Gretchen Shirm’s novel Where the Light Falls is a meditation on silence, and art as of a means of speaking. The novel’s protagonist, Andrew Spruce, is an art photographer who sees “honesty in broken things” (298), choosing subjects that are damaged in some way: a fractured tea cup that has been glued back together, a grown man with a full set of baby teeth, a girl with a paralysed face. Through framing and capturing a broken subject, Andrew is able to transform it—a metaphor for integrating traumatic experiences into reality. Shirm writes, “A photograph could do this: it could make strangeness seem normal and transform it into a thing of beauty” (205). In this novel, the act of representing is ultimately a means of healing.' (Introduction)
