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*** Shortlisted for the 2020 Stella Prize ***

”People went on about death bringing friends together, but it wasn’t true…��

Reading this book made me think that the loss of a friend isn't all beer & skittles as it's depicted in so many movies. The outpouring of love at the wake - always at a pub, usually Irish - friends getting all misty eyed like on New Year's Eve, arms flung around each other's shoulders. Tears, anecdotes, laughter. Toasts to a great friend, sorely missed. But then the tears dry, and life goes on. Usually with soaring music playing.

This is the aftermath. And much closer to reality. It's just gone twelve months since Sylvie's passing. Her partner Gail, has returned home to Ireland, and has given three of their friends Adele, Jude & Wendy the "opportunity" to clear out their beach house on Sydney's northern beaches before it's put up for sale. The carrot being they could keep whatever they wanted.

But what material goods could they possibly want? Sylvie was the glue that held their friendships together. And without her, it's just a hodge podge of moving chess pieces as the ladies contemplate their lives and what they mean to each other.

Along with all the dust & animal faecal matter that is stirred up as part of this cleanup, so are the friend's relationships.

Resentments, both real & imagined, which have hardened to a callous over the years, are painful to the touch. And surface often. Secrets, lies and betrayals. That's the thing with a humid Sydney summer, you can't help but bare your teeth. Trust me on this.

Hell, even Finn (Wendy's elderly dog) is at a loss. Walking around in circles. Staring blankly into space. This is raw. Life hurts. Often. The pains ooze off the pages. I appreciate how gently the nuances of characters and the story is handled.

Yet despite it all, Adele, Jude & Wendy remain fiercely loyal to each other. Though the elastic of their friendship is stretched it never snaps and breaks. We see glimmers of happier times, good times, from their meeting in their 20s, through to life changes which in turn affected their friendship(s) in their 30s, 40s and beyond. Now in their 70s, each of the women remaining in this friendship circle cannot help but take stock.

�� …my life has not been what I believed it to be.��

This is a weekend you will not forget. We gain insights into these women's psyches, their triumphs and losses. What's brought them to this point. And how damn hard it is to grow old.

"Nobody wants you when you're old. You have to shore things up before this point. You have to face up to the future, to the worst possibilities, you have to prepare yourself. Anticipate, adapt, accept."

This made me ponder the imponderables. The big questions, for which there are no answers. The stuff that keeps you awake at nights. I kept thinking which of these women I’m most like. The good bits, the aggravating, the quirks.

”At times she felt on the edge of discovering something very important �� about living, about the age beyond youth and love, about this great secret time of a person’s life.��

I really loved this book. I mean really loved. It spoke to me on so many levels. I shed a tear. I smiled. I recognized people and events. I know the cleansing effects of the sea. It's so real. What seems like a deceptively simple story, is way more complex due to the characters being portrayed with such honesty and compassion.

I truly wish I'd had the opportunity to read this in one sitting as I felt so invested in the characters. I can absolutely imagine just sitting back for an arvo with a big cuppa at the ready, and reading it from cover to cover. That's how it made me feel. Loved 💜 Absolutely.

The ending is perfection.

Longlisted for the 2020 Stella Prize. Good luck!


*** Buddy read with the wonderful, talented Mr.Neale-ski. Our first of many for 2020. Make sure you check out his fab & insightful review, as it’s truly something special
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