Small Indiscretions : stories of travel in Asia

by Felicity Castagna

A traveller becomes a Monroe impersonator in the casinos of Macau.
An obsessive son of Australians living in Jakarta confronts his strange rituals.
A young woman is trapped in the boredom of her father’s ministry in exotic Borneo.
A daughter defies her mother and travels to Bali.

Castagna’s twenty stories range across countries: including Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and China, deftly exploring the relationships of parents and children, lovers and enemies, the transient and the resident. In the spirit of Rattawatt Lapacharoensap’s Sightseeing, Castagna’s fiction powerfully captures the landscapes and cultures of Asia and the intriguing interactions of Westerners with it.

228 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2011

About the author

Felicity Castagna won the 2014 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction for her novel, The Incredible Here and Now, which was shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia and NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and adapted for the stage by the National Theatre of Parramatta. Her collection of short stories, Small Indiscretions, was named an Australian Book Review Book of the Year. Her most recent novel, No More Boats, was shortlisted for the 2018 Miles Franklin Literary Award, the 2018 Voss Literary Prize and the 2018 NSW Premier’s Literary Multicultural Award.

Reviews

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. Was fun reading about so many places I’ve been to

[Guy Salvidge · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of travel stories by NSW author Felicity Castagna, whom I had the pleasure of meeting recently at a couple of events at the KSP Writers Centre. I read this book in a couple of days and there were only a handful of misses for me (out of 20+ stories). My personal favourites were the first one, "Next" and "A Lesson In English Grammar". Castagna has a light touch in that she almost never moralises, and yet her stories convey an avid interest in humanity in its damaged guises. Highly recommended.

[Barbara Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an occasional travel blog writer, this book really captured my imagination. Published in 2011 it would really stand the tests of time. It is a collection of short stories that are written each with a different protagonist. They are set in differing locations around Asia. I found I could relate well to the characters but more so the settings having travelled fairly extensively in SE Asia. What a great way to transform your travel blog by being differing characters.
You can actually get it from the ACT Public Library.