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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'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.' (From the publisher's website.)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording, e-book.
Works about this Work
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Made in Suburbia : Intra-suburban Narratives in Contemporary Australian Women’s Fiction
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Claiming Space for Australian Women's Writing 2017; (p. 163-179)'Within twentieth-century Australian fiction, suburbia has long been trivialised, satirised, or ignored as a site incompatible with a narrative of transformation, a location from which to flee. However, little critical attention has been directed on contemporary realist tales of the female protagonist located within the confines of suburbia—an increasingly contested yet arguably still feminine/feminised zone. This chapter examines contemporary representations and narrative trajectories of the suburban female protagonist in twenty-first-century fiction. Drawing on “postfeminist” literary theory and emerging reappraisals of the “everyday” and “home”, the chapter presents evidence of intra-suburban narratives of feminine transformation, which contradict second-wave feminist flight trajectories, thereby reclaiming and elevating fictional suburbia as a critical space in which Australian women writers may locate their stories.'
Source: Abstract.
-
Less Than Feminine Zones : Postfeminist Cession in Georgia Blain’s Too Close to Home and Peggy Frew’s House of Sticks
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Contemporary Women's Writing , March vol. 10 no. 1 2016; (p. 56-66) 'Throughout twentieth-century Australian fiction, suburbia is generally depicted as a feminine domain, set in opposition to the masculine city or bush landscapes. The suburban, domestic setting is trivialized, satirized, or ignored as a site incompatible with a narrative of transformation – a location from which to flee. Traditionally, the male protagonist embarks upon these flight narratives, leaving the female characters to endure dull lives of “domesticated conformity” in the suburbs. Not until second-wave feminism of the 1970s and 1980s is the female protagonist liberated from her suburban “cage” by women writers, many of whom identify as feminist. More recently, “postfeminist” scholars such as Diane Negra and Yvonne Tasker, Mary Vavrus, and Susan J. Douglas observe the rise of a “retreatist” narrative in popular media such as “chick-lit,” television drama, and film. This overtly restorative narrative typically features a female protagonist rejecting the public (assumed masculine) sphere and returning to a more domestic (assumed feminine) domain as the ultimate solution to a problematized state of “incompleteness.” This essay explores contemporary representations and narratives of the female protagonist in domestic, suburban settings in Georgia Blain’s Too Close to Home and Peggy Frew’s House of Sticks, both published in 2011. Of particular interest is evidence supporting rejection, interrogation, or subversion of the retreatist narrative as a viable postfeminist solution, or, alternatively, more creative reimaginings of the suburban setting, which permit “new” narratives of feminine transformation.' (Publication abstract) -
Ladies' Man Shortlisted
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 11 March 2012; (p. 7) -
Ideals Mugged by Domestic Reality
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 5 June 2011; (p. 7)
— Review of Too Close to Home 2011 single work novel -
Fiction : Reviews
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 4 - 5 June 2011; (p. 24)
— Review of Too Close to Home 2011 single work novel
-
Slap-Happy
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 331 2011; (p. 29)
— Review of Too Close to Home 2011 single work novel -
Traversing the Barren Landscape of Betrayal
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 7 May 2011; (p. 23)
— Review of Too Close to Home 2011 single work novel -
Cover Notes
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 8 May 2011; (p. 21)
— Review of Too Close to Home 2011 single work novel ; Killed at the Whim of a Hat 2011 single work novel -
Rich but Unexplored Terrain
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 7 May 2011; (p. 22)
— Review of Too Close to Home 2011 single work novel -
Shouting in the Kitchen
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 7- 8 May 2011; (p. 20-21)
— Review of Too Close to Home 2011 single work novel -
Ladies' Man Shortlisted
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 11 March 2012; (p. 7) -
Less Than Feminine Zones : Postfeminist Cession in Georgia Blain’s Too Close to Home and Peggy Frew’s House of Sticks
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Contemporary Women's Writing , March vol. 10 no. 1 2016; (p. 56-66) 'Throughout twentieth-century Australian fiction, suburbia is generally depicted as a feminine domain, set in opposition to the masculine city or bush landscapes. The suburban, domestic setting is trivialized, satirized, or ignored as a site incompatible with a narrative of transformation – a location from which to flee. Traditionally, the male protagonist embarks upon these flight narratives, leaving the female characters to endure dull lives of “domesticated conformity” in the suburbs. Not until second-wave feminism of the 1970s and 1980s is the female protagonist liberated from her suburban “cage” by women writers, many of whom identify as feminist. More recently, “postfeminist” scholars such as Diane Negra and Yvonne Tasker, Mary Vavrus, and Susan J. Douglas observe the rise of a “retreatist” narrative in popular media such as “chick-lit,” television drama, and film. This overtly restorative narrative typically features a female protagonist rejecting the public (assumed masculine) sphere and returning to a more domestic (assumed feminine) domain as the ultimate solution to a problematized state of “incompleteness.” This essay explores contemporary representations and narratives of the female protagonist in domestic, suburban settings in Georgia Blain’s Too Close to Home and Peggy Frew’s House of Sticks, both published in 2011. Of particular interest is evidence supporting rejection, interrogation, or subversion of the retreatist narrative as a viable postfeminist solution, or, alternatively, more creative reimaginings of the suburban setting, which permit “new” narratives of feminine transformation.' (Publication abstract) -
Made in Suburbia : Intra-suburban Narratives in Contemporary Australian Women’s Fiction
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Claiming Space for Australian Women's Writing 2017; (p. 163-179)'Within twentieth-century Australian fiction, suburbia has long been trivialised, satirised, or ignored as a site incompatible with a narrative of transformation, a location from which to flee. However, little critical attention has been directed on contemporary realist tales of the female protagonist located within the confines of suburbia—an increasingly contested yet arguably still feminine/feminised zone. This chapter examines contemporary representations and narrative trajectories of the suburban female protagonist in twenty-first-century fiction. Drawing on “postfeminist” literary theory and emerging reappraisals of the “everyday” and “home”, the chapter presents evidence of intra-suburban narratives of feminine transformation, which contradict second-wave feminist flight trajectories, thereby reclaiming and elevating fictional suburbia as a critical space in which Australian women writers may locate their stories.'
Source: Abstract.
Awards
- 2012 shortlisted Barbara Jefferis Award
- Marrickville, Marrickville - Camperdown area, Sydney Southern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,
- 2010s
