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Stories: The Collected Short Fiction

by Helen Garner

A collection of Australian lives in miniature

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Regular price $36.75 USD Sale price $22.05 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Editorial selection

    The New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

    Identified as a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A collection of Australian lives in miniature

Helen Garner’s collected short fiction moves among distinct situations: postcards sent to a former lover on the Gold Coast, hometown gossip surrounding a returning friend, and a girl’s discovery of a hidden box. Together, these premises suggest a collection attentive to intimacy, longing, and the uneasy intersections of darkness and humor in everyday life. Its short-story form brings multiple glimpses of Australian experience into one volume, with each story offering a separate point of entry rather than a single continuous plot.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in literary short fiction and varied story premises.
  • Readers seeking fiction rooted in Australian life and relationships.

Themes

Love and longingAustralian lifeFriendship and communityDarkness and humor

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE - A New Yorker Most Anticipated Book of the Year - A finely etched collection of short stories from the "generous, category-defying imagination" (New York Times Book Review) of Helen Garner, one of Australia's most beloved writers

"Perceptive and virtuosic . . . . these visceral, incandescent stories treat us to Garner's companionable brilliance."--The New York Times Book Review


A woman sends postcards to a former lover from the idyllic Gold Coast. A chorus of hometown voices gossip about a wayward friend returned. A young girl discovers a hidden box of horrors.

Helen Garner is best known for her frank, unsparing, and intricate portraits of Australian life. Now, in Stories, comes the collected short fiction of a singular literary voice. These stories delve into the complexities of love and longing, of the pain, darkness, and joy of life, and all told with Garner's characteristic sharpness, honesty, and humor. Each one is a perfect piece, but together they showcase a rare talent and a master of many literary forms.
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