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'Shortly after the unexpected death of her husband in 2014, Ailsa Piper put on a grey dress which she wore each day for the next six months. Of all the recurring and often exquisite motifs in her memoir, For Life, this prosaic re-worn grey dress speaks most eloquently of the dullness, constraint, and repetition of grief. Late in the memoir, Piper mentions a photograph that her husband took of her on holiday. She is naked in a thicket of tea-trees, and although she is not, at that point, a swimmer, she is wet from the ocean and thrilled. The contrast between the solitary costume of bereavement and this bare delight could not be more marked.' (Introduction)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Last amended 1 Aug 2024 13:42:09
58-59
https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/current-issue/1005-august-2024-no-467/12917-brenda-walker-reviews-for-life-a-memoir-of-living-and-dying-and-flying-by-ailsa-piper
The Grey Dress : Breaking through to Life and Change
Australian Book Review
Australian Book Review
