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Immaculate
Winner of the prestigious The Australian /Vogel's Literary Award.
'Tragic and moving.' HSU-MING TEO, previous winner of The Australian /Vogel's Award
All Frances wants is a cure for her daughter, but that would take a miracle, and miracles aren't something Frances believes in anymore.
Newly divorced from her pastor ex-husband and excommunicated from the church community she once worked within, she wrestles alone with the prognosis of her terminally ill child. Any suggestion of 'divine intervention' is salt in the wound of her grief. So when Frances is forced to take in a homeless and pregnant teenage girl who claims to have had an immaculate conception, she's deeply challenged.
But sixteen-year-old Mary is not who she seems, and soon opens the door to perspectives that profoundly shift Frances's sense of reality, triggering a chain of astonishing events. It seems that where there is the greatest suffering lies an unexpected magic. Frances begins to hold hope for her family's future, but the miracle prayed for is not always the one received.
Immaculate is a provocative and tender exploration of loss, identity and healing, and the secret worlds we hide within in order to survive.
'A gripping and unique story.' KATE ADAMS, bookseller
'Tragic and moving.' HSU-MING TEO, previous winner of The Australian /Vogel's Award
All Frances wants is a cure for her daughter, but that would take a miracle, and miracles aren't something Frances believes in anymore.
Newly divorced from her pastor ex-husband and excommunicated from the church community she once worked within, she wrestles alone with the prognosis of her terminally ill child. Any suggestion of 'divine intervention' is salt in the wound of her grief. So when Frances is forced to take in a homeless and pregnant teenage girl who claims to have had an immaculate conception, she's deeply challenged.
But sixteen-year-old Mary is not who she seems, and soon opens the door to perspectives that profoundly shift Frances's sense of reality, triggering a chain of astonishing events. It seems that where there is the greatest suffering lies an unexpected magic. Frances begins to hold hope for her family's future, but the miracle prayed for is not always the one received.
Immaculate is a provocative and tender exploration of loss, identity and healing, and the secret worlds we hide within in order to survive.
'A gripping and unique story.' KATE ADAMS, bookseller
Kindle Edition
Published June 20, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
December 29, 2023
Immaculate is a complex book about religion, devotion, sexuality, death, birth, separation from marriage and the church, and exploitation. I haven't read a book quite like it before - it's chaotic and deep and tangled. The indoctrination of religion is harmful and contradictory. Still thinking about it, still making meaning from it. I don't know whether it's fair to say I enjoyed it, as a lot of the subject matter about religion made me uncomfortable and angry. But it was good to get out of my comfort zone.
I enioyed that there were actual image descriptions in the text. I'd love it if Anna continued that on her own social media posts, to make them accessible for disabled people, please.
I enioyed that there were actual image descriptions in the text. I'd love it if Anna continued that on her own social media posts, to make them accessible for disabled people, please.
June 29, 2023
Loved this. Innovative structure. Fantastic interrogation of Pentecostal belief and fictional suspension of belief, that also unusually thinks about Australian spirituality without ref to indigeneity but more akin to street drug use. And so lovely to read a book grounded in familiar Brisbane geographies.
July 10, 2023
“To cure is to kill is to cure.”
Wow! An electric mix between John Irving’s ‘A Prayer For Owen Meany’ and ‘Rip’ by Mark Brandi, ‘Immaculate’ is a deeply moving portrayal of Frances’ severance from an evangelical church while her daughter’s cancer worsens. Frances reluctantly continues social work on behalf of the church even though her ex-husband and pastor, Lucas, seeks full custody of their child. Meanwhile, a pregnant teenager who is convinced she is the Virgin Mary is placed in her care.
The structure is a modern interpretation of the bible. The Book of Frances, Lamentations and Revelations are interspersed with police interviews, emails from the church suggesting marriage counselling and conversion therapy, and dream scenes with the ethereal Innkeepers.
Absolutely loved it!
Wow! An electric mix between John Irving’s ‘A Prayer For Owen Meany’ and ‘Rip’ by Mark Brandi, ‘Immaculate’ is a deeply moving portrayal of Frances’ severance from an evangelical church while her daughter’s cancer worsens. Frances reluctantly continues social work on behalf of the church even though her ex-husband and pastor, Lucas, seeks full custody of their child. Meanwhile, a pregnant teenager who is convinced she is the Virgin Mary is placed in her care.
The structure is a modern interpretation of the bible. The Book of Frances, Lamentations and Revelations are interspersed with police interviews, emails from the church suggesting marriage counselling and conversion therapy, and dream scenes with the ethereal Innkeepers.
Absolutely loved it!
August 26, 2023
It is reading books like this where I am left in awe of a writer’s incredible creativity and imagination and how their beautifully crafted words can take the reader on such an emotionally-charged, surreal and unpredictable journey.
You need to be prepared to suspend belief from the outset, to fully appreciate this novel. I found it disturbing, tragic, bizarre and WTF!! McGahan describes it as a fairytale for adults and there are references to Alice in Wonderland and The Little Match Girl - but this is a very dark, soul searching fairytale that explores alternate and religious realms, juxtaposed with a harsh and sad reality of death, drugs, misogyny, and life-changing decisions you wish you could take back.
Frances is struggling to reestablish herself, recently divorced from her pastor husband, reclaiming her queer identity that she suppressed while devoted to the Pentecostal church and her marriage. While trying to save herself, she also wants to save her four year old daughter, who is terminally ill. It’s a story of grief, loss and healing.
After finishing this book, I listened to an ABC Conversations episode broadcast last month on 20 July, called ‘Anna McGahan and God’. The interview with Sarah Kanowski provides interesting insight to McGahan’s life and her personal experience of religion, which has clearly inspired this book. I recommend listening to the interview.
This is not a book you can easily love but it’s a visceral read that leaves its mark. 5⭐️ for evoking all the feelings.
You need to be prepared to suspend belief from the outset, to fully appreciate this novel. I found it disturbing, tragic, bizarre and WTF!! McGahan describes it as a fairytale for adults and there are references to Alice in Wonderland and The Little Match Girl - but this is a very dark, soul searching fairytale that explores alternate and religious realms, juxtaposed with a harsh and sad reality of death, drugs, misogyny, and life-changing decisions you wish you could take back.
Frances is struggling to reestablish herself, recently divorced from her pastor husband, reclaiming her queer identity that she suppressed while devoted to the Pentecostal church and her marriage. While trying to save herself, she also wants to save her four year old daughter, who is terminally ill. It’s a story of grief, loss and healing.
After finishing this book, I listened to an ABC Conversations episode broadcast last month on 20 July, called ‘Anna McGahan and God’. The interview with Sarah Kanowski provides interesting insight to McGahan’s life and her personal experience of religion, which has clearly inspired this book. I recommend listening to the interview.
This is not a book you can easily love but it’s a visceral read that leaves its mark. 5⭐️ for evoking all the feelings.
December 21, 2023
I wasn't emotionally fortified enough to read this, but that's no fault of the author. A powerful and thoughtful narrative.
January 28, 2024
3.5✨Beautiful magical realism and poignancy; but at times harsh and challenging.
August 11, 2024
I struggled with this book- I just couldn’t into the writing style. The issues raised were challenging.
It definitely fulfilled my remit of reading a different genre.
It definitely fulfilled my remit of reading a different genre.
October 13, 2023
An absorbing and remarkable novel. I had read Anna mcghan's book Meteanoia- a memoir of sorts and was immediately gripped by her writing.
This book is no different; she writes with such ease to expand your mind and outside the bounds of linear writing to express emotions and events. It is cleverly written using non-usual narrative- there's transcripts, described imagery, first-person accounts and testimonies to tell the story of a single mother navigating and interrogating her faith and relationships whilst caring for her daughter who has cancer. You collapse in the weight of turmoil and disbelief, but recover with the bravery and honesty in what being human is all about- faults, contradictories, and misalignments.
I couldn't put it down!
This book is no different; she writes with such ease to expand your mind and outside the bounds of linear writing to express emotions and events. It is cleverly written using non-usual narrative- there's transcripts, described imagery, first-person accounts and testimonies to tell the story of a single mother navigating and interrogating her faith and relationships whilst caring for her daughter who has cancer. You collapse in the weight of turmoil and disbelief, but recover with the bravery and honesty in what being human is all about- faults, contradictories, and misalignments.
I couldn't put it down!
July 10, 2023
Dark disturbing and weird
August 2, 2023
Wow! What an intriguing and enlightening book. Sadness, joy and so much more.
September 6, 2023
Quite a read stick with it. Frustrating at times especially towards the end, glad i read it.
January 24, 2024
I listened to this as an audiobook. Discovering the apps BorrowBox and Libby has been a life changer for me. Since having children, I find it quite difficult to focus when reading. Listening to books seems to be more manageable and still brings the same joy that I once found in reading.
I love Anna McGahan as an actor and now I also love her as a writer. She is an all-round creative and I look forward to reading her other piece of work.
Having developed a trend for reading Australian crime over the last few months, ‘Immaculate’ was a change in genre (while crime is present, it is not the focus of the novel).
I really enjoyed the way Anna set out the novel, with the differing points of view. As someone who is not religious, at first I was a bit “meh” at the religious undertone, but once I got past that, I was hooked. The religious iconography was so cleverly entwined throughout the novel. As an English teacher, I appreciated her effective use of stylistic and language features. Sometimes I became a little lost, but I honestly put that down to the listening aspect of an audiobook rather than having the written piece of work in front of me. I plan on checking out the written form of the novel when I next see a hard copy.
Overall, an excellent piece of literature that defied my expectations.
I love Anna McGahan as an actor and now I also love her as a writer. She is an all-round creative and I look forward to reading her other piece of work.
Having developed a trend for reading Australian crime over the last few months, ‘Immaculate’ was a change in genre (while crime is present, it is not the focus of the novel).
I really enjoyed the way Anna set out the novel, with the differing points of view. As someone who is not religious, at first I was a bit “meh” at the religious undertone, but once I got past that, I was hooked. The religious iconography was so cleverly entwined throughout the novel. As an English teacher, I appreciated her effective use of stylistic and language features. Sometimes I became a little lost, but I honestly put that down to the listening aspect of an audiobook rather than having the written piece of work in front of me. I plan on checking out the written form of the novel when I next see a hard copy.
Overall, an excellent piece of literature that defied my expectations.
December 29, 2024
This was a gripping story about a mother whose four-year-old daughter is dying. Her ex-husband is a pastor who is believing for healing, but the mother is struggling with her faith and is trying to be realistic about her daughter’s treatment and prognosis. There is a lot of tension between the two parents, a lot of suffering and heartache. In fact, this book explores how we all go through various forms of suffering and has some deeply beautiful things to say about suffering, for instance, “I had to learn how to hold someone in their suffering, without denying its existence. I saw the pain in her, pain that no performative prayer could cure but which the loving arms of a mother could actually soothe. I saw how I needed to advocate, how I needed to protect, how I needed to find the right treatment… She needed the comfort of reality.”
Suffering is also contrasted with the miraculous in this book. The miracle of God’s love and embrace. The miracle of feeling a sense that one’s future self will say the journey of suffering was worth it, though one may not feel that way while they are going through it. The characters in this book had something like a vision of their future selves. They had some level of comfort and peace around their own heartache and pain.
The interwoven story of the homeless pregnant teenager who claims an immaculate conception, is truly beautiful because it gives the value of Jesus and Mary to people often ignored, neglected, abused and rejected by others in society.
I loved the religious-deconstruction aspect within the narrative as well—the questions about what faith and religion should be like and how it often fails. All people are invited and included at God’s table. Criminals, drug addicts, homeless pregnant teenagers, police people, parents who have lost children, queer, transgender, and non-binary people. The church has become too exclusive, but God is inclusive and we are on a journey as human beings to learn to include everyone and everything in this love-story of life.
This book reaches into the depths of our pain, deconstructs and reconstructs religious systems and brings hope to the reader.
Suffering is also contrasted with the miraculous in this book. The miracle of God’s love and embrace. The miracle of feeling a sense that one’s future self will say the journey of suffering was worth it, though one may not feel that way while they are going through it. The characters in this book had something like a vision of their future selves. They had some level of comfort and peace around their own heartache and pain.
The interwoven story of the homeless pregnant teenager who claims an immaculate conception, is truly beautiful because it gives the value of Jesus and Mary to people often ignored, neglected, abused and rejected by others in society.
I loved the religious-deconstruction aspect within the narrative as well—the questions about what faith and religion should be like and how it often fails. All people are invited and included at God’s table. Criminals, drug addicts, homeless pregnant teenagers, police people, parents who have lost children, queer, transgender, and non-binary people. The church has become too exclusive, but God is inclusive and we are on a journey as human beings to learn to include everyone and everything in this love-story of life.
This book reaches into the depths of our pain, deconstructs and reconstructs religious systems and brings hope to the reader.
August 8, 2023
I am honoured to say that I once met Anna (although she probably won't remember me), the author of this beautiful, entertaining, daring and deeply moving book. Indeed I was for a while friends with Tim, her father and also met her uncle Andrew McGahan. The author of Praise would undoubtedly have been proud that his niece has also written a quintessentially "Brisbane" book, following the tradition of Praise.
Loved the use of phone voice and text messages (and letters dated years in the past) to keep the plot moving. I particularly liked the Rugby / cancer treatment analogy - as a member of my family is currently undergoing chemotherapy, this resonated with me. The picture of New Farm Park is spot on: I have spent many hours there, picnicking and in the playground with my son. The standard of writing is impeccable: even though some of the plot twists need a bit of close attention, it felt very easy to read. If I had to be critical I would say that, for me, the second half perhaps did not quite live up to the promise of the first, although it continued to be entertaining throughout.
Loved the use of phone voice and text messages (and letters dated years in the past) to keep the plot moving. I particularly liked the Rugby / cancer treatment analogy - as a member of my family is currently undergoing chemotherapy, this resonated with me. The picture of New Farm Park is spot on: I have spent many hours there, picnicking and in the playground with my son. The standard of writing is impeccable: even though some of the plot twists need a bit of close attention, it felt very easy to read. If I had to be critical I would say that, for me, the second half perhaps did not quite live up to the promise of the first, although it continued to be entertaining throughout.
September 6, 2024
Immaculate by Anna McGahan.
This book is incredible—a paradox of themes that beautifully weave together, revealing and hiding everything while delving into deep truths that soothe rather than confront. The line "To hold is to let go is to hold" perfectly captures the essence of the novel.
If not for a recommendation, I wouldn't have picked it up due to its religious content and links to the evangelical church, but I’m so glad I did. Immaculate explores deeply affecting topics such as death, family violence, grief, loss, homelessness, sexuality, and where God fits into this crazy, unfair world. Though the storytelling has a biblical tone, there is nothing pious about these pages.
I was hooked immediately, confused yet intrigued by where this wild journey would take me. It ultimately led me somewhere beautiful, and I’m grateful to have read this novel. Anna McGahan has crafted something timeless and inspiring, written with remarkable confidence and creativity. I’m blown away by her skill.
I could say more, but I don’t want to spoil anything. Just read it—5/5.
This book is incredible—a paradox of themes that beautifully weave together, revealing and hiding everything while delving into deep truths that soothe rather than confront. The line "To hold is to let go is to hold" perfectly captures the essence of the novel.
If not for a recommendation, I wouldn't have picked it up due to its religious content and links to the evangelical church, but I’m so glad I did. Immaculate explores deeply affecting topics such as death, family violence, grief, loss, homelessness, sexuality, and where God fits into this crazy, unfair world. Though the storytelling has a biblical tone, there is nothing pious about these pages.
I was hooked immediately, confused yet intrigued by where this wild journey would take me. It ultimately led me somewhere beautiful, and I’m grateful to have read this novel. Anna McGahan has crafted something timeless and inspiring, written with remarkable confidence and creativity. I’m blown away by her skill.
I could say more, but I don’t want to spoil anything. Just read it—5/5.
September 30, 2023
Immaculate by Anna McGahan
Where do I start? How to describe a book that has devastated and uplifted me from page to page. I want to smile, that huge kind of smile that makes your cheeks hurt. And I want to smile while embracing the tears that are gently working their way down my face.
Anna McGahan has written a book that mixes magical realism through multiple layers of stories of transition. It is confronting in parts and yet opens doors of hope even in the harder and triggering moments.
I admit to being interested in part due to the authors uncle being Andrew McGahan (who wrote one of my all time favourite satires). But the writing and the concept stand for themselves.
The format is different to pretty much anything I’ve come across recently. it’s eminently and profoundly readable in its unusual structure.
Trigger warnings aplenty.
I have retyped this last sentence about 30 times, trying to find a single word to describe what I am feeling now. I’ve narrowed it down to hope.
Where do I start? How to describe a book that has devastated and uplifted me from page to page. I want to smile, that huge kind of smile that makes your cheeks hurt. And I want to smile while embracing the tears that are gently working their way down my face.
Anna McGahan has written a book that mixes magical realism through multiple layers of stories of transition. It is confronting in parts and yet opens doors of hope even in the harder and triggering moments.
I admit to being interested in part due to the authors uncle being Andrew McGahan (who wrote one of my all time favourite satires). But the writing and the concept stand for themselves.
The format is different to pretty much anything I’ve come across recently. it’s eminently and profoundly readable in its unusual structure.
Trigger warnings aplenty.
I have retyped this last sentence about 30 times, trying to find a single word to describe what I am feeling now. I’ve narrowed it down to hope.
August 16, 2024
This semi-autobiographical novel, set in and around Brisbane, has its moments. The main character, Frances, is a youngish woman, separated from her husband and with a young child who is dying from an incurable disease. The woman’s ex-husband is a staunch Christian, who is baffled by Frances’ desire to separate, believing in the Church’s position that marriage is for life. Frances, once a believer also, has become disengaged with religion after her daughter’s diagnosis. Mary, the other main character, is a pregnant teenager, who has been ‘on the game’, but wishes to live a more normal life with her devoted dog - read God backwards.
So far, so good. Then, much of the novel becomes dreamlike, even hallucinatory. This is where it lost me, I am afraid. Yes, there is much to like about the descriptions of the controlling men surrounding Frances and their fanatical beliefs, but much of the trance-like sketches of various events didn’t do it for me.
So far, so good. Then, much of the novel becomes dreamlike, even hallucinatory. This is where it lost me, I am afraid. Yes, there is much to like about the descriptions of the controlling men surrounding Frances and their fanatical beliefs, but much of the trance-like sketches of various events didn’t do it for me.
January 30, 2025
I have long been a quiet fan of Anna’s writing, starting from a time nearly forgotten in the earlier phase of my deconstruction and struggles with faith, identity and meaning. In a prose so sharp and effortless, yet frustratingly cryptic, she draws you into the mystery and complexity of human heart tangled up in the cultural and social webs of our time.
This book was particularly difficult to read, and yet i read it all in one sitting. It is a cry for help, a call to compassion, a handle for understanding, but ultimately it is an affirmation of all we experience: good, bad and the endless shades in between. Like God, we are called to survey the collection of experiences of our little lives, the pain, the loss, the ephemerality, the confusion.. and somehow find the courage to declare the inherent goodness of it all.
This book was particularly difficult to read, and yet i read it all in one sitting. It is a cry for help, a call to compassion, a handle for understanding, but ultimately it is an affirmation of all we experience: good, bad and the endless shades in between. Like God, we are called to survey the collection of experiences of our little lives, the pain, the loss, the ephemerality, the confusion.. and somehow find the courage to declare the inherent goodness of it all.
October 29, 2023
Immaculate, the winner of the Australian/Vogel's Award for Young Writers 2023, has been likened to an adult's fairy tale. It certainly is a very different novel in terms of both the storyline and writing style.
All Frances wants is a cure for her daughter, but that would take a miracle, and miracles aren't something Frances believes in anymore.
Newly divorced from her pastor ex-husband and excommunicated from the church community she once worked within, she wrestles with the prognosus of her terminally ill child.
Set in my hometown, Immaculate is a tender exploration of loss, identity, and the secret worlds we hide within in order to survive in difficult times.
"to let go is to hold is to let go"
All Frances wants is a cure for her daughter, but that would take a miracle, and miracles aren't something Frances believes in anymore.
Newly divorced from her pastor ex-husband and excommunicated from the church community she once worked within, she wrestles with the prognosus of her terminally ill child.
Set in my hometown, Immaculate is a tender exploration of loss, identity, and the secret worlds we hide within in order to survive in difficult times.
"to let go is to hold is to let go"
March 16, 2024
At the end the author described this book as a fairytale that wasn’t for children - and I’d say that’s correct. While strange and magical, this book was heartbreaking, gritty and confusing all at the same time. It dealt with serious subject matter including grief, violence, religious and sexual trauma. It was gritty and raw.
Even then, the narrative voice was powerful and there was a magical sense of storytelling that coursed through the entire book. Another highlight was the book’s Brisbane setting - I could picture certain scenes vividly thanks to this.
This was a devastating and intense read. I read it in a day! Would recommend to anyone experiencing grief or religious deconstruction (who is willing to cry also).
Even then, the narrative voice was powerful and there was a magical sense of storytelling that coursed through the entire book. Another highlight was the book’s Brisbane setting - I could picture certain scenes vividly thanks to this.
This was a devastating and intense read. I read it in a day! Would recommend to anyone experiencing grief or religious deconstruction (who is willing to cry also).
September 18, 2024
4.5 rounded to 5
This book was incredible. Simply INCREDIBLE. I don’t know how to explain it but having gone into it only having read the blurb (which is more vague than it appears), I highly recommend NOT knowing anything more than that. The writing is wonderful, the structure innovative and the themes devastating. I was extremely confused in the first 15% or so, but my emotions were strong and unambiguous. And any book that can do THAT is worth the read. It is heartbreaking and devastation at times and hugely uplifting and fantastical at other times. It stayed rent free in my brain for days after, even as I read and enjoyed other books. It is a brilliant story about grief and transition… And I mourn that I cannot experience it again for the first time.
This book was incredible. Simply INCREDIBLE. I don’t know how to explain it but having gone into it only having read the blurb (which is more vague than it appears), I highly recommend NOT knowing anything more than that. The writing is wonderful, the structure innovative and the themes devastating. I was extremely confused in the first 15% or so, but my emotions were strong and unambiguous. And any book that can do THAT is worth the read. It is heartbreaking and devastation at times and hugely uplifting and fantastical at other times. It stayed rent free in my brain for days after, even as I read and enjoyed other books. It is a brilliant story about grief and transition… And I mourn that I cannot experience it again for the first time.
July 30, 2025
I am not a religious person so it was easy for me to sit back and enjoy the story as the main characters wrestle with what is happening in their lives and their faith. I liked how the author wrote flawed people just doing their best to survive with a little magical realism keeping you wondering.
The beginning of the book confused me initially but once I got a handle on the main characters and their doings I found it easier.
'I am trying to scoop our the ocean with a thimble.'
'Every villain looks like a hero in the right light.'
'The words that come flying out of my mouth in anger now seem sharper and more injurious than I ever intended.'
'Hope is a dangerous thing in the hands of the lonely.'
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 12, 2024
One of the most uniquely structured, unusually written (in a good way!) and gripping tales of the trauma of a mother's heartbreak and loss, laced with deception and intrigue (and a homeless, pregnant teenager claiming an immaculate conception).
This book so cleverly intertwines themes of religion, parenting, terminal illness, prostitution, sexual relations and the LGBTIQA community with wit and dry humour. Tragic and yet also magical.
I could not anticipate what was going to happen, despite my very best efforts. I felt sorrow, grief, anger, love and all the spectrum of emotions in between.
I can't wait to hear what this award winning author will release next. A truly sensational debut.
This book so cleverly intertwines themes of religion, parenting, terminal illness, prostitution, sexual relations and the LGBTIQA community with wit and dry humour. Tragic and yet also magical.
I could not anticipate what was going to happen, despite my very best efforts. I felt sorrow, grief, anger, love and all the spectrum of emotions in between.
I can't wait to hear what this award winning author will release next. A truly sensational debut.
April 1, 2024
I have been following Anna’s writing for some years now and knew I needed to read this book. It was difficult to enjoy this, not because it wasn’t well written but because it was so painful to read. As someone who has been in church circles similar to those described it felt too close to home. It felt like a mirror or a spotlight revealing so much painful truth and hypocrisy. As someone still in the church I am well aware of its many failings and deeply sorry for the hurt caused to many. I still hold onto hope. The format was creative, I liked that. But the surrealist dreamlike scenes were confusing and strange to me, I didn’t like those parts so much.
July 12, 2023
An adult fairy tale which deals with loss, identity and healing. It is unusual to have a modern novel where the author knows the Bible. I believe that Anna McGahan has been hurt by the Pentecostal church and has used her writing of this book to move on. There was much pain and disappointment as well as finally renewal in this story, but as a Christian, I felt that Jesus was missing. Perhaps the writer felt that would be too confronting for her readers. I know I will reread this novel and continue thinking about what Anna is trying to say.
March 6, 2024
Opening was confusing. Reading emails and forms felt easy. Mary was confusing. Kind of hated some parts of it. Death of the kid hurt obviously. I’m not built to be a doctor.
“You will sleep again, you know….and one of these days, you will wake up and think: wow what a gorgeous morning.”….you will. Because it will be warm, and you will have slept so well, and the sun will sparkle on the few, and a butcherbird will be singing. It won’t overpower her loss. It will just be a beautiful morning in the midst of her loss. And it will hold you gently.” Pg 385
July 22, 2023
The story of a mother whose 2 year old daughter is terminally ill, who is at loggerheads with her pastor ex-husband, and who has to take in a highly unusual pregnant teenager, while being accused of murder. The storyline is confusing, moving backwards and forwards, into and out of dreams/fantasies/letters/legal documents; and so much more. I had to read the book twice to appreciate just how moving, clever and meaningful it is.
August 2, 2023
Wow. Wow. Wow. This book has a really unique structure which takes a little while to get used to, but everything is intentional and chosen with great emotion and meaning. Subject matter of Christian fundamentalism and domestic abuse and drug use can be triggering for those who have experienced it personally, but handled with so much care and empathy. You fall in love with the characters. Couldn’t put it down.
September 10, 2023
4.5 stars. This book is all kinds of innovation and delightfully refreshing. From its different format to its narrative which is a mix of heartbreaking reality and child like fantasy. It goes beyond the neat boundaries society likes to keep us boxed into examining spirituality, sexuality, marriage, stereotypes, jaded social systems, and most profoundly, grief. I found it both liberating and challenging. A real experience.
December 5, 2023
In 2015 I undertook a year long course in screenwriting with Anna McGahan, the author of this novel.
Anna is an actress, a poet, a screenwriter and now an award winning novelist, having won the prestigious Vogel Award for this work.
Anna is a deeply creative and expressive soul, a seeker, someone who feels with every essence of her being. This novel, whilst not about her, contains so much of her within its pages. It is a profound and moving work.
Anna is an actress, a poet, a screenwriter and now an award winning novelist, having won the prestigious Vogel Award for this work.
Anna is a deeply creative and expressive soul, a seeker, someone who feels with every essence of her being. This novel, whilst not about her, contains so much of her within its pages. It is a profound and moving work.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews