A vibrant set of short stories, all focussing on people navigating contemporary Australia, all focussing on people who feel like outsiders in one way or another. I usually don’t go for realist fiction, but Melanie Cheng writes her stories with such deft characterisation coupled with a surprising and wry sense of humour, that it was impossible not to be drawn in. Plus the stories are such a broad cross-section of Australia that you’re bound to find characters you know well from your own lives, strangers you’ve always wondered about and maybe a character or two you identify a little too closely with. I’ll be very surprised if this one doesn’t get attention in next year’s literary awards.
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