We All Lived in Bondi Then, by Georgia Blain

A posthumous collection of nine stories from Georgia Blain

Australian writer Georgia Blain died in 2016 at the relatively young age of fifty-one. She already had a critically acclaimed body of work behind her, and surely there would have been more to come. We All Lived in Bondi Then is a collection of short stories that Blain wrote between 2012 and 2015, which she intended to publish after what was to become her final novel, Between a Wolf and a Dog. The nine stories that comprise the volume appear now for the first time.

Blain sticks to close and intimate subjects – elderly and sick parents, the difficulties of romantic relationships, childhood traumas, complicated friendships. The stories are written in a simple and immediate prose, detailing emotions and states of mind with an elegant clarity. The main appeal of this collection is Blain's ability to map the human heart – our failures, fears, anxieties and occasional triumphs – creating a compelling work of great authenticity.

A highly readable, absorbing collection that lingers in the memory.

We All Lived in Bondi Then, by Georgia Blain. Published by Scribe. $29.99

MAR24