Which book should I read from the Stella Prize shortlist?
This year’s shortlist for the Stella Prize features some brilliant books from Australian women, including two story collections, one essay collection, and three novels. Here’s a guide to help you decide which one to read first.
Read this book if…
You love ‘time capsule’ fiction that provides a glimpse into history
Now in her 80s, Elizabeth Harrower is one of Australia’s most celebrated and interesting authors. She published four novels to critical acclaim, and then gave up writing up entirely in 1977. In 2012, independent press Text Publishing set out to revive interest in her work, reprinting her earlier novels along with previously unpublished works. A Few Days in the Country and Other Stories by Elizabeth Harrower brings together her stories published in Australian literary journals throughout the 1960s and 1970s for the first time – and even includes some from her archives. Set largely in Sydney, these stories are intimate, psychologically-astute windows into Australia’s recent past.
Read this book if…
You enjoy reading about complicated family dynamics
13-year-old Silver has spent her life being moved from commune to commune by her mother Ishtar, and this novel opens in 1985 as they arrive at their latest destination. Hope Farm is a commune located on a run-down property in Victoria. As Silver grows through her teen years, Peggy Frew unpacks the fractured relationship between mother and daughter, and manages to skilfully show both sides to their story. Hope Farm is only the second novel from Frew, whose debut novel won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2010.
Read this book if…
You’re intrigued by that slippery transition from adolescence into adulthood
In Six Bedrooms, Tegan Bennett Daylight tells stories of hot afternoons on school ovals, of sneaking booze from your parent’s pantry, of the sophistication and squalor of your first sharehouse, and more. These are stories that will resonate with those of us who have never forgotten the intensity and awkwardness of our teenage years – and will remind those of us who have. The writing itself is a treat – sharp, menacing and funny – and the characters will stay with you long after finishing.
Read this book if…
You’re a fan of personal essays that dig deep into difficult topics
Small Acts of Disappearance is a collection of essays about hunger. Fiona Wright writes honestly and movingly of her own struggles with anorexia, and her language is piercing in its precision. Her attempts to understand and explain the illness display a depth of empathy that is both inspiring and humbling. As Wright accounts her experiences she touches on many other themes – literature, travel, displacement – and her collection is a must-read for anyone with an interest in the evolution of the essay form.
Read this book if…
You find speculative fiction thrilling, especially when it’s scarily believable
The Natural Way of Things is a starkly imaginative exploration of contemporary misogyny and corporate control. 10 women are imprisoned on an isolated property in the middle of Australia, and forced into hard labour in scorching heat. While initially given no explanation for their imprisonment, it soon becomes clear that each has been involved in a public sex scandal with a powerful man. Charlotte Wood unsparingly unpacks the dynamics between the women and their captives, as well as between the women themselves.
Read this book if…
You want rich storytelling with roots in real world concerns
Told from the perspective of six, interconnected characters, The World Without Us is a love story, a frightening mystery and an elegy for a denatured landscape. Mireille Juchau reveals the fragility of our own environment and lives in her depiction of a grieving family whose world is falling apart – both literally and metaphorically. This is an intelligent work of fiction that operates on multiple levels to pose important questions about our lives today.
