''Mirror, mirror, on the grass, what's my future? What's my past?'
'A girl and her mother are on the lam. They've been running for sixteen years, from police and the monster they left in the kitchen with the knife in his throat. They've found themselves a home inside an orange 1987 Toyota HiAce van with four flat tyres parked in a scrapyard by the edge of the Brisbane River – just two of the 100,000 Australians sleeping rough every night.
'The girl has no name because names are dangerous when you're on the run. But the girl has a dream. Visions in black ink and living colour. A vision of a life as a groundbreaking artist of international acclaim. A life outside the grip of the Brisbane underworld drug queen 'Lady' Flora Box. A life of love with the boy in the brown suit who's waiting for her in the middle of the bridge that stretches across a flooding and deadly river. A life far beyond the bullet that has her name on it. And now that the storm clouds are rising, there's only one person who can help make her dreams come true. That person's name is Lola and she carries all the answers. But to find Lola, the girl with no name must first do one of the hardest things we can sometimes ever do. She must look in the mirror.
'A big, moving, blackly funny, violent, heartbreaking and beautiful novel of love, fate, life and death and all the things we see when we look in the mirror. All of the past, all of the present, and all of our possible futures.
''Mirror, mirror, please don't lie. Tell me who you are. Tell me who am I.''
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Author's note: For anyone who didn't jump in the river.
And for anyone who did.
Number I in the 2024 Better Reading Top 100
'Trent Dalton's latest novel looks in the mirror and finds violence and despair, but also hope and art.'
It’s Trent Frickin’ Dalton
Michael Williams
(interviewer),
2023
27121103
2023
single work
podcast
interview
'Trent Dalton’s debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe, has sold more than a million copies worldwide, making Trent one of Australia’s most successful contemporary authors. His latest book is called Lola in the Mirror, and it’s the third – and perhaps final – in a loose trilogy following young people in peril on the fringes of society. This week, Michael sits down with Trent to discuss this new work, where his boundless enthusiasm comes from, and his plans for the future.' (Production summary)
'Trent Dalton takes a risk with Lola in the Mirror, a novel in which you can see, hear and feel the characters as they battle through life, writes Stephen Romei'
'Trent Dalton's latest novel looks in the mirror and finds violence and despair, but also hope and art.'
It’s Trent Frickin’ Dalton
Michael Williams
(interviewer),
2023
27121103
2023
single work
podcast
interview
'Trent Dalton’s debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe, has sold more than a million copies worldwide, making Trent one of Australia’s most successful contemporary authors. His latest book is called Lola in the Mirror, and it’s the third – and perhaps final – in a loose trilogy following young people in peril on the fringes of society. This week, Michael sits down with Trent to discuss this new work, where his boundless enthusiasm comes from, and his plans for the future.' (Production summary)
