image of person or book cover 8633598324088844306.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon We Were Not Men single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2021... 2021 We Were Not Men
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'A novel that punches you in the heart: the powerful, unbearably moving and ultimately uplifting story of twin brothers, Jon and Eden, as they grow up and begin to understand what it is to be men, and what it takes to knit a fractured family back together.

''We were sons, we were brothers. I didn't know how to be either.'

'This is a story about love. About the love that nine-year-old twins Jon and Eden Hardacre have for their mum, for the creek that they swim in, for each other – this is the love that they trust, that's clear and pure as sunlight, as honey, as water.

'But in the wake of a terrible accident, the boys have to grow up fast. They compete with each other to make the Olympic Games swimming squad, fall in love with the same girl, and begin to realise how complicated love can be and how it doesn't always show itself in the ways that we expect.

'Heart-hammeringly original, intense and deeply moving, We Were Not Men is a powerhouse of a novel about all the various faces that love shows us and how sometimes, distracted by life, ambition or attraction, we take it for granted until it's too late – or almost too late. An unforgettable novel that pulses with grief, revelation, hope and love.'

Source : publisher's blurb

Notes

  • Dedication : 'For Mum and Dad'

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Sydney, New South Wales,: HarperCollins Australia , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 8633598324088844306.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 343p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 2nd June 2021.
      ISBN: 9781460759523 (pbk), 9781460713150 (ebk)

Other Formats

  • Sound recording.
  • Large print.

Works about this Work

Grief and Loss : Fiction from a Child’s Point of View Debra Adelaide , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 437 2021; (p. 35-36)

— Review of We Were Not Men Campbell Mattinson , 2021 single work novel ; The Cookbook of Common Prayer Francesca Haig , 2021 single work novel ; Small Joys of Real Life Allee Richards , 2021 single work novel

'One of the hardest challenges for a novelist is to write a story for adults from the point of view of a child. In 1847, Charlotte Brontë set the bar high with Jane Eyre, the first novel to achieve this. The story ends when Jane is a woman but commences with the child Jane’s perspective. So effective for readers was Brontë’s ground-breaking feat that Charles Dickens decided to write Great Expectations in the voice of the child Pip, after just hearing about Jane Eyre, even before reading it.' (Introduction)

Right Time to Tell the Tale Stephen Romei , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 5 June 2021; (p. 16)

— Review of We Were Not Men Campbell Mattinson , 2021 single work novel
We Were Not Men by Campbell Mattinson Review – a Solemn and Affectionate Coming-of-Age Imogen Dewey , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 25 June 2021;

— Review of We Were Not Men Campbell Mattinson , 2021 single work novel

'Thirty years in the works, Mattinson’s fiction debut tells the story of two twins touched by trauma – and the grandmother seeing them through.'

We Were Not Men by Campbell Mattinson Review – a Solemn and Affectionate Coming-of-Age Imogen Dewey , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 25 June 2021;

— Review of We Were Not Men Campbell Mattinson , 2021 single work novel

'Thirty years in the works, Mattinson’s fiction debut tells the story of two twins touched by trauma – and the grandmother seeing them through.'

Right Time to Tell the Tale Stephen Romei , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 5 June 2021; (p. 16)

— Review of We Were Not Men Campbell Mattinson , 2021 single work novel
Grief and Loss : Fiction from a Child’s Point of View Debra Adelaide , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 437 2021; (p. 35-36)

— Review of We Were Not Men Campbell Mattinson , 2021 single work novel ; The Cookbook of Common Prayer Francesca Haig , 2021 single work novel ; Small Joys of Real Life Allee Richards , 2021 single work novel

'One of the hardest challenges for a novelist is to write a story for adults from the point of view of a child. In 1847, Charlotte Brontë set the bar high with Jane Eyre, the first novel to achieve this. The story ends when Jane is a woman but commences with the child Jane’s perspective. So effective for readers was Brontë’s ground-breaking feat that Charles Dickens decided to write Great Expectations in the voice of the child Pip, after just hearing about Jane Eyre, even before reading it.' (Introduction)

Last amended 14 Sep 2022 15:33:52
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  • Newport, Newport - Williamstown area, Melbourne - West, Melbourne, Victoria,
  • Melbourne, Victoria,
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