Cirrus@Austlit

'One of the most famous opening lines in literature comes from Dante’s Inferno, the first part of his Divine Comedy, when halfway through the journey of his life he finds himself in a gloomy wood, having lost his way. In the middle of our life’s journey, I found myself in a dark wood.

'In the face of the Covid pandemic, many of us felt a similar sense of isolation and uncertainty, confined to our homes, disconnected, and grappling with the unknown. Which led many, presumably including Melbourne writer Ronnie Scott, to the page.

'As a creative writing lecturer at RMIT, Ronnie Scott knows a few tricks of the writing trade, and in his second novel, Shirley, he deploys them with undeniable flair — such as keeping his readers in suspense until nearly halfway through the book as he leads them on a journey without telling them who or what Shirley is.' (Introduction)