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'A wickedly funny and genuinely moving novel about memory, language and love, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and The One-Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Jumped Out the Window.
'In the beginning is the whatsitsname. The woman in the car park. She wears a nightgown and lies on her back, looking up at the sky. The nightgown is white and embroidered at the neck with blue . . . what do you call them? Forget-me-nots. A small crowd is gathered around her. All in their unicorns. Uniforms. All younger than the woman, much younger. They look at each other. They look up at the sky. They look down at the woman. They whisper.
'Rose is in her eighties and has dementia, but she's not done with life just yet. Alternately sharp as a tack and spectacularly forgetful, she spends her days roaming the corridors of her aged-care facility, ruminating on the staff and residents and enduring visits from her emotionally distant children and grand-daughters. But when her friend is found dead?after an apparent fall from a window, Rose embarks on an eccentric and deeply personal investigation to discover the truth and exposes all manner of secrets - even some from her own past.
'All the Words We Know is a wickedly funny and genuinely moving story about loneliness, language and how we make sense of the world.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
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‘I Hope Publishers Will Be Brave’: Older Women Are Often Erased in Fiction – but in 2 New Australian Novels They Take Centre Stage
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 1 April 2024;
— Review of Whenever You're Ready 2024 single work novel ; All the Words We Know 2024 single work novel'If older women move through the world with a sense of being unseen, in the world of books, and especially in contemporary fiction, they have all but been erased. So pervasive is their absence, it is nearly possible to draw up a list of novels featuring older women as the main characters and plan to read them all.' (Introduction)
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‘Poetic’, ‘Fearless’, ‘A Creative Triumph’: The Best Australian Books Out in February
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 4 February 2024;
— Review of My Brilliant Sister 2024 single work novel ; We All Lived in Bondi Then 2024 selected work short story ; Politica 2024 single work novel ; The Great Undoing 2024 single work novel ; Monument 2024 selected work poetry prose ; The Pulling 2024 selected work autobiography essay ; All the Words We Know 2024 single work novel ; The Next Big Thing 2024 single work novel
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‘Poetic’, ‘Fearless’, ‘A Creative Triumph’: The Best Australian Books Out in February
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 4 February 2024;
— Review of My Brilliant Sister 2024 single work novel ; We All Lived in Bondi Then 2024 selected work short story ; Politica 2024 single work novel ; The Great Undoing 2024 single work novel ; Monument 2024 selected work poetry prose ; The Pulling 2024 selected work autobiography essay ; All the Words We Know 2024 single work novel ; The Next Big Thing 2024 single work novel -
‘I Hope Publishers Will Be Brave’: Older Women Are Often Erased in Fiction – but in 2 New Australian Novels They Take Centre Stage
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 1 April 2024;
— Review of Whenever You're Ready 2024 single work novel ; All the Words We Know 2024 single work novel'If older women move through the world with a sense of being unseen, in the world of books, and especially in contemporary fiction, they have all but been erased. So pervasive is their absence, it is nearly possible to draw up a list of novels featuring older women as the main characters and plan to read them all.' (Introduction)