For years, Leila Whittaker has been the mediator in her family. She smoothes ruffled
feathers between her sons; endures the volatile moods of their father, the acclaimed
Australian artist Ken Black; and even swallows the bitter pill of Ken’s endless affairs. All
this, for the quiet hum of creative freedom her marriage provides. Or so she tells herself.
When Ken dies, leaving his artist’s estate to their two sons, and the pointed amount of
sixty-nine thousand dollars to his muse, Anita, Leila decides she’s had enough. It’s time to seek some peace (and pleasure) of her own ...
Diving, Falling is an elegant, exhilarating journey through grief, betrayal, and the
intoxicating rediscovery of joy. Ripe with wickedly wry observations, unashamedly bold and sexy, it examines the calculations and sacrifices women make to keep the peace, escape their pasts, and find the agency to pursue their own passions. (Publication summary)
'In her book The Cost of Living, British writer Deborah Levy says: “To strip the wallpaper off the fairytale of The Family House in which the comfort and happiness of men and children has been the priority is to find behind it an unthanked, unloved, neglected, exhausted woman.” Creative writing academic Kylie Mirmohamadi’s debut novel, Diving, Falling, tells the story of a novelist, Leila Whittaker, recently widowed when her husband died, Ken Black, an art-world giant whose sought-after abstract masterpieces sell in the millions. Behind their fairytale life, Ken is a philanderer with a volatile temper, embodying the tortured genius trope. Leila says of her late husband: “Ken Black never enjoyed an unshadowed hour. And he would have dismissed as deadly dull the idea of a mind at peace.”' (Introduction)
'In her book The Cost of Living, British writer Deborah Levy says: “To strip the wallpaper off the fairytale of The Family House in which the comfort and happiness of men and children has been the priority is to find behind it an unthanked, unloved, neglected, exhausted woman.” Creative writing academic Kylie Mirmohamadi’s debut novel, Diving, Falling, tells the story of a novelist, Leila Whittaker, recently widowed when her husband died, Ken Black, an art-world giant whose sought-after abstract masterpieces sell in the millions. Behind their fairytale life, Ken is a philanderer with a volatile temper, embodying the tortured genius trope. Leila says of her late husband: “Ken Black never enjoyed an unshadowed hour. And he would have dismissed as deadly dull the idea of a mind at peace.”' (Introduction)
