Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser

With this suspenseful, funny and profound book, Michelle de Kretser has made something thrilling and new. Its reversible format enacts the disorientation that migrants experience when changing countries changes the story of their lives. 'Three scary monsters - racism, misogyny and ageism - roam through this mesmerising novel. Islam has been banned in the country, the air is smoky from a Permanent Fire Zone, and one pandemic has already run its course. He's also preoccupied by his ambitious wife, his wayward children and his strong-minded elderly mother. An Asian migrant, he fears repatriation and embraces 'Australian values'. 'Lyle works for a sinister government department in near-future Australia. All the while, Lili is striving to be A Bold, Intelligent Woman like Simone de Beauvoir. She makes friends, observes the treatment handed out to North African immigrants and is creeped out by her downstairs neighbour. Now, in the 1980s, she's teaching in the south of France.

'Lili's family migrated to Australia from Asia when she was a teenager. 'Michelle de Kretser's electrifying take on scary monsters turns the novel upside down - just as migration has upended her characters' lives. ''When my family emigrated it felt as if we'd been stood on our heads.' 'From the twice-winner of the Miles Franklin Award, Scary Monsters is an affecting, profound and darkly funny exploration into racism, misogyny and ageism. Y Scary Monsters Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, 2021 22584565 2021 single work novel Abstract They have also been shortlisted for prestigious awards, including the Barbara Jefferis Award and the Stella Prize, and have been taught at universities across Australia. Her novels have won a range of Australian and international awards, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize, the Frankfurt Literaturpreis, the NSW Premier's Literary Awards (multiple times), the ALS Gold Medal, the Miles Franklin Award, and the Prime Minister's Literary Award. Her following novels were The Hamilton Case (2002), The Lost Dog (2007), Questions of Travel (2012), Springtime : A Ghost Story (2014), and The Life to Come (2017). In the late 1990s de Kretser used long-service leave from Lonely Planet to write her first novel, The Rose Grower (1999). She was also a founding editor of the Australian Women's Book Review (1989-1992). De Kretser subsequently taught for a year at Montpellier and enrolled for an MA in Paris.Īfter returning to Australia, de Kretser worked for many years as an editor for the travel publisher, Lonely Planet, for which, in 1998, she edited the short story and travel writing anthology Brief Encounters : Stories of Love, Sex and Travel. After completing high school in Melbourne, she studied French at the University of Melbourne. Born in Sir Lanka, Michelle de Kretser was educated at Methodist College, Colombo, before migrating to Australia with her family in 1972, when she was 14.

Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser