'A brave new novel that sensitively explores one woman's experience of sexual violence and the silencing of those who feel compelled to speak out.
'What happens when a young woman enters a city apartment early morning, with two footballers? Jordi Spence is sixteen years old and lives in outer Melbourne. By daybreak, her world has shifted. Max Carlisle, a troubled AFL star, can't stop what comes next. And Ruby, a single woman from the apartment block, is left with questions when she sees Jordi leave.
'In this remarkable novel, Rachel Matthews captures the characters of Jordi and her family, the players, and the often loveable inhabitants of a big city with a deceptive lightness of touch that seduces the reader. Siren reveals the often unnoticed life of a city while simultaneously drawing us deep into a dark and troubling world. What happens has an unexpected effect on all those who are both directly and indirectly involved.
'The result is a powerful and haunting novel about cultural stereotypes and expectations, love, loneliness, family and our struggle to connect. In so many ways, Matthews subtly sounds the siren on sexual violence and its prevalence in our culture. ' (Publication summary)
Dedicated to my parents, Brian and Val,
the jazz musician and artist - creative,
clever and compassionate
'Anna George’s 2014 debut, What Came Before, is a tense psychological thriller about domestic violence. The title refers to the series of events that precede the opening murder. The believable, flawed characters have their motivations laid out in finely calibrated detail.
'The Lone Child continues the Melbourne writer’s interest in the complicated, self-deluding excuses of victims and perpetrators, It once again shows how strong and confident women can be broken by forces beyond their control.
'In a cliff-top holiday house that she herself designed, nestled in the Victorian coastal ranges, architect Neve Ayres, 39, is slowly unravelling. Once almost too perfect in composure and appearance, she is now rumpled and undone by the unrelenting mews of a colicky newborn.' (Introduction)
'Anna George’s 2014 debut, What Came Before, is a tense psychological thriller about domestic violence. The title refers to the series of events that precede the opening murder. The believable, flawed characters have their motivations laid out in finely calibrated detail.
'The Lone Child continues the Melbourne writer’s interest in the complicated, self-deluding excuses of victims and perpetrators, It once again shows how strong and confident women can be broken by forces beyond their control.
'In a cliff-top holiday house that she herself designed, nestled in the Victorian coastal ranges, architect Neve Ayres, 39, is slowly unravelling. Once almost too perfect in composure and appearance, she is now rumpled and undone by the unrelenting mews of a colicky newborn.' (Introduction)
