Whilst the sunshine refuses to come out and shine, and we, in Melbourne, Australia, have no choice but to stay inside, keeping entertained, or at least not terminally bored, is a challenge plagued by many in this (sixth) lockdown. Although movies and TV have remained a source of content for so many of these days spent at home, it’s books that I’ve discovered, or perhaps rediscovered, a solace in. Open a book and be transported far away, to a different place, a different time, a different body, and not for two hours or so or for the length of a show’s first season, but for what feels like a small eternity. Some of the books I’ve found a special resonance and comfort in are books written by fellow female writers from where I live. Whether writing about Melbourne or elsewhere in Australia, or about countries far away, these three books by three Australian women are ones suited very much for escaping into the worlds’ of whilst our world outside continues to ravage on out of control.
Stories by Helen Garner
A collection of short fiction by the phenomenal Melbourne author Helen Garner. An icon of both the Melbourne and Australian literary scene, Helen Garner writes with a brutal rawness of the lives of characters not unlike those any Australian would recognise. With some just a few pages long and some a few dozen, these short stories vary from concise and touching to traumatically heartbreaking. Having worked across many genres of writing, Garner’s collection of fiction is a great entry point into her catalogue of work, with the honesty of her voice and her careful observations through self-interrogation in this short story format providing a moving experience for her reader, whether or not they are familiar with Garner’s other works. Stories is best read in the morning with a coffee, preferably outside in any sliver of sunshine Melbourne (or wherever you are) will afford you.
Kokomo by Victoria Hannan
The debut novel from Victoria Hannan, Kokomo won Hannan the Victorian Premier’s Literacy Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. The book follows Mina, a Melbourne native living in London who drops everything to fly home after she hears word from her best friend that her mother, reclusive since the death of her husband and Mina’s dad, has been spotted leaving the house for the first time in twelve years. Mina is thrust back into a world that is both familiar and disjointing, a world of nostalgic nights and friendships gone stale, a world in which the problems she left behind seven years ago to run off to London are still waiting for her to at home. A brilliant, heartbreaking yet hilarious story, Kokomo is one to read for nights spent in bed with rain pitter-pattering on the roof.
Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman
This series of short stories is a debut collection by Abigail Ulman, containing nine short pieces of fiction that explore the complexities and disasters of eight girls as they come of age, all at different points in their lives. Hot Little Hands is both tremendously witty and excruciatingly heartbreaking, having you both laugh and cry in between stories of Melbourne school girls bored by the world they’ve stumbled into and a budding author who will do anything to avoid writing her first book, including getting pregnant. Amongst the mess and the hilarity each of these eight women find themselves enveloped in, the honesty of girlhood, the experience of being on the cusp of something greater, is a thread that binds each of these stories together. Hot Little Hands would be best enjoyed on your lunch break or in between virtual meetings, when you’re in most need for a little laugh in your day.
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