Life in Ten Houses: Penguin Special

Coming in at just over 70 pages, this latest addition to the Penguin Specials range is an evocative glimpse into a writer’s life.

Sonya Hartnett’s has been a rather peripatetic one, having lived in ten houses over the last ten or so years. As I’m someone who’s only lived in three over the last 40 years, Hartnett’s quest for the place that she’ll live in forever struck me as bold and a little bit unsettling. When Hartnett makes a mistake in her choice of abode, she moves on and thinks hang the consequences. It goes without saying that she’s become somewhat of a real estate expert.

Hartnett also recounts how each house, except for one, has been the place in which she has produced one of her works, and how the area or residence provided certain touchstones. The house in Of a Boy – one of my favourite works of hers – for instance, was in Box Hill (I don’t know why but I always thought it was in Adelaide).

It won’t take you long to read this short, engrossing memoir, but I can assure you that it will give you a lot of pleasure.

Mark Rubbo