What do you think?
Rate this book
Honour & Other People's Children
In Honour & Other People's Children, Helen Garner examines the idiosyncratic and bothersome notions of honour by which her characters – adults and children – shape their untidy lives.
'Honour' is about a couple whose marriage, though abandoned in practice, persists in spirit. But the arrival of a new lover obliges them to make a proper separation and draw their child into the conflict.
'Other People's Children' is a witty, sad story of the breakdown of friendship between two women, Scotty and Ruth, and the collapse of their collective household. Scotty loves Ruth's daughter as only the childless can love other people's children, but the broken friendship leaves Scotty with no claims. Into this mess blunders Madigan, looking for something that Scotty has long ago trained herself not to give.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
237 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1980
14 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
About the author
Helen Garner
52 books1,400 followersHelen Garner was born in Geelong in 1942. She has published many works of fiction including Monkey Grip, Cosmo Cosmolino and The Children's Bach. Her fiction has won numerous awards. She is also one of Australia's most respected non-fiction writers, and received a Walkley Award for journalism in 1993.
Her most recent books are The First Stone, True Stories, My Hard Heart, The Feel of Stone and Joe Cinque's Consolation. In 2006 she won the Melbourne Prize for Literature. She lives in Melbourne.
Praise for Helen Garner's work
'Helen Garner is an extraordinarily good writer. There is not a paragraph, let alone a page, where she does not compel your attention.'
Bulletin
'She is outstanding in the accuracy of her observations, the intensity of passion...her radar-sure humour.'
Washington Post
'Garner has always had a mimic's ear for dialogue and an eye for unconscious symbolism, the clothes and gestures with which we give ourselves away.'
Peter Craven, Australian
'Helen Garner writes the best sentences in Australia.'
Ed Campion, Bulletin
Her most recent books are The First Stone, True Stories, My Hard Heart, The Feel of Stone and Joe Cinque's Consolation. In 2006 she won the Melbourne Prize for Literature. She lives in Melbourne.
Praise for Helen Garner's work
'Helen Garner is an extraordinarily good writer. There is not a paragraph, let alone a page, where she does not compel your attention.'
Bulletin
'She is outstanding in the accuracy of her observations, the intensity of passion...her radar-sure humour.'
Washington Post
'Garner has always had a mimic's ear for dialogue and an eye for unconscious symbolism, the clothes and gestures with which we give ourselves away.'
Peter Craven, Australian
'Helen Garner writes the best sentences in Australia.'
Ed Campion, Bulletin
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
February 3, 2019
Two novellas, overall 3.5★
HONOUR 4.5★
“Around each of them quivered an aura of terrific restraint. If they both let go at once, they might blow each other out of the room.”
They are the new partner and the ex-wife, except Kathleen’s not the ex, not yet. She and Frank have had five years of amicable separation but are connected as strongly as ever through their daughter, Flo. Frank’s been quite content not to divorce, and they joke that it’s to keep him from making a mistake and getting married again.
How this family – and they are still very much a family unit – deals with Frank’s genuine love for Jenny, is the drama of everyday life that Garner does better than anyone, I think. Frank loves all three females, always will, and still needs Kathleen to help him with his mum who is ill.
In fact, we often feel sorry for Jenny when Frank and Kathleen start reminiscing and singing old songs in harmony and talking about people she doesn’t know and has never heard of. Flo, of course, thinks they should all live like one big, happy family.
“Jenny was left striving for grace, for a courteous arrangement of features while they recited, delighted in the ring of names without meaning for her.”
I thought this was great Garner, and I loved it. Like Flo, I wanted them all to live happily every after, but I didn’t know how.
OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN 3★
“Once, when she cried about her life, stuck there in the house with Laurel and the dog, he had taken her with him to the pub. She slid herself behind the long table, and the talking faces swung towards her for a second, summed her up and—worse than dismissed—smiled blankly.”
In this story, Ruth feels a lot like Jenny in the first one. She’d have been better off staying home. But now, she and Laurel and young Wally are living in a share house with Scotty and others. Scotty is as much a mum to the kids as Ruth is, and Ruth can now go out and party all night, knowing the kids are looked after.
They used to be close friends but the friction is definitely heating up and it’s affecting the people living in the house and the visitors. It’s very like Garner’s book Monkey Grip, which I read recently and about which I had mixed feelings, and I feel the same way about this.
I get it. I get the discomfort of the share, the weird people who wander through and the terrible decisions women have to make between being a parent or being a free spirit. Ruth’s little girl, Laurel, is very attached to Scotty, and watching Ruth and Scotty bickering is like watching parents on the bitter edge of separation.
This was first published in 1980, and according to Michael Sala’s long introduction, this is not the format she had in mind.
“Garner originally intended her second book to be a novel that replicated the style and subject matter of Monkey Grip. After struggle and failure, and a traumatic meeting with her publishers in 1978, Garner changed tack, ‘picked the novel apart and fashioned it into two long stories.’ The work feels differently autobiographical to 'Monkey Grip', but not less so.”
I thought it was too much like revisiting the mixed bag of mixed-up people in the 'Monkey Grip' share houses, so I wasn't interested enough to care what happened to anyone, even other people’s children. It seemed like more of the same. I did feel for the women, old enough now to want some stability and to establish their own place in the world with some family rituals, but I didn’t feel that they had any idea where to start and were just going to keep letting events push them around.
As for the fellas, the less said, the better, I reckon. Really liked the first novella, really didn’t like the second, except for her writing. Her writing is such that I will always read to the end! Her later stuff is terrific!
Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the preview copy.
HONOUR 4.5★
“Around each of them quivered an aura of terrific restraint. If they both let go at once, they might blow each other out of the room.”
They are the new partner and the ex-wife, except Kathleen’s not the ex, not yet. She and Frank have had five years of amicable separation but are connected as strongly as ever through their daughter, Flo. Frank’s been quite content not to divorce, and they joke that it’s to keep him from making a mistake and getting married again.
How this family – and they are still very much a family unit – deals with Frank’s genuine love for Jenny, is the drama of everyday life that Garner does better than anyone, I think. Frank loves all three females, always will, and still needs Kathleen to help him with his mum who is ill.
In fact, we often feel sorry for Jenny when Frank and Kathleen start reminiscing and singing old songs in harmony and talking about people she doesn’t know and has never heard of. Flo, of course, thinks they should all live like one big, happy family.
“Jenny was left striving for grace, for a courteous arrangement of features while they recited, delighted in the ring of names without meaning for her.”
I thought this was great Garner, and I loved it. Like Flo, I wanted them all to live happily every after, but I didn’t know how.
OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN 3★
“Once, when she cried about her life, stuck there in the house with Laurel and the dog, he had taken her with him to the pub. She slid herself behind the long table, and the talking faces swung towards her for a second, summed her up and—worse than dismissed—smiled blankly.”
In this story, Ruth feels a lot like Jenny in the first one. She’d have been better off staying home. But now, she and Laurel and young Wally are living in a share house with Scotty and others. Scotty is as much a mum to the kids as Ruth is, and Ruth can now go out and party all night, knowing the kids are looked after.
They used to be close friends but the friction is definitely heating up and it’s affecting the people living in the house and the visitors. It’s very like Garner’s book Monkey Grip, which I read recently and about which I had mixed feelings, and I feel the same way about this.
I get it. I get the discomfort of the share, the weird people who wander through and the terrible decisions women have to make between being a parent or being a free spirit. Ruth’s little girl, Laurel, is very attached to Scotty, and watching Ruth and Scotty bickering is like watching parents on the bitter edge of separation.
This was first published in 1980, and according to Michael Sala’s long introduction, this is not the format she had in mind.
“Garner originally intended her second book to be a novel that replicated the style and subject matter of Monkey Grip. After struggle and failure, and a traumatic meeting with her publishers in 1978, Garner changed tack, ‘picked the novel apart and fashioned it into two long stories.’ The work feels differently autobiographical to 'Monkey Grip', but not less so.”
I thought it was too much like revisiting the mixed bag of mixed-up people in the 'Monkey Grip' share houses, so I wasn't interested enough to care what happened to anyone, even other people’s children. It seemed like more of the same. I did feel for the women, old enough now to want some stability and to establish their own place in the world with some family rituals, but I didn’t feel that they had any idea where to start and were just going to keep letting events push them around.
As for the fellas, the less said, the better, I reckon. Really liked the first novella, really didn’t like the second, except for her writing. Her writing is such that I will always read to the end! Her later stuff is terrific!
Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the preview copy.
May 18, 2019
It's hard for me to review this book. Whilst I enjoyed the writing and the authors superior observation skills which brought every tiny detail to life for me I didn't especially like, understand, or relate to the characters.
Part of my disappointment may stem from my expectations being too high. Certainly these words in the foreword by Michael Sala inflated my expectations further "Perhaps the most powerful line I have read in fiction about parenthood occurs early in Honour.... I've read a reasonable amount of fiction, much of it about parenthood. I've also read some very powerful lines but if I'm honest the line he referenced would have slipped by unnoticed if he hadn't drawn my attention to it. I think the fault is mine. I read for enjoyment and not with a critical mind which often contributes to me feeling underwhelmed by classics.
This was a book of two short stories or novella's. Honour was a story of a family reformulating itself and trying to find their new normal. Husband and wife have had been amicably separated for some years and have shared the raising of their young daughter. They remain friends but now he wants a divorce so he can remarry. These changing dynamics set everyone off balance. Just as I was beginning to appreciate the characters and fall into the story it was over.
In Other People's Children the characters live in an inner city share house, commune style. The children are Ruths but parenting has been shared by Scotty who thinks of herself as Laurel's mum. The once strong friendship between Ruth and Scotty has dissolved and Ruth has taken the decision to find somewhere else to live. All characters were alternative, parenting was loose and I found it difficult to come to terms with their behaviours, their mindsets, their conversations.
All this to say, I think perhaps the writing was too clever for me to fully appreciate. Helen Garner is clearly an astute, intelligent and original author. Though these short stories didn't work for me I would like to try one of her full length novels.
My thanks to Text Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Part of my disappointment may stem from my expectations being too high. Certainly these words in the foreword by Michael Sala inflated my expectations further "Perhaps the most powerful line I have read in fiction about parenthood occurs early in Honour.... I've read a reasonable amount of fiction, much of it about parenthood. I've also read some very powerful lines but if I'm honest the line he referenced would have slipped by unnoticed if he hadn't drawn my attention to it. I think the fault is mine. I read for enjoyment and not with a critical mind which often contributes to me feeling underwhelmed by classics.
This was a book of two short stories or novella's. Honour was a story of a family reformulating itself and trying to find their new normal. Husband and wife have had been amicably separated for some years and have shared the raising of their young daughter. They remain friends but now he wants a divorce so he can remarry. These changing dynamics set everyone off balance. Just as I was beginning to appreciate the characters and fall into the story it was over.
In Other People's Children the characters live in an inner city share house, commune style. The children are Ruths but parenting has been shared by Scotty who thinks of herself as Laurel's mum. The once strong friendship between Ruth and Scotty has dissolved and Ruth has taken the decision to find somewhere else to live. All characters were alternative, parenting was loose and I found it difficult to come to terms with their behaviours, their mindsets, their conversations.
All this to say, I think perhaps the writing was too clever for me to fully appreciate. Helen Garner is clearly an astute, intelligent and original author. Though these short stories didn't work for me I would like to try one of her full length novels.
My thanks to Text Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 10, 2018
‘They sat helplessly at the table, survivors of an attempt at a family…’
I’m still working my way through some of Helen Garner’s earlier work, and the republication of ‘Honour and Other People’s Children’ by Text Publishing is perfectly timed. These two novellas constitute Helen Garner’s second book, first published in 1981, four years after ‘Monkey Grip’ (which I’ve not yet read either).
These two novellas are about relationships, about connections with others and the stresses that result when relationships shift or break down.
In ‘Honour’, set in inner Melbourne, we learn that Kathleen and Frank are separated and share the parenting of their six-year-old daughter Flo. Apparently, the separation is amicable, until Frank partners with Jenny and then wants a divorce. He also wants Flo to live with him and Jenny. This hurts Kathleen, and Flo cannot understand why they can’t all live together as one happy family. The story ends, with Flo having persuaded Kathleen and Jenny to sit on a seesaw, facing each other.
‘It rose without haste, sweetly, to the level, steadied and stopped. They hung in the dark, airily balancing, motionless.’
Such a powerful image. The story is told in the third person from Kathleen’s point of view.
In ‘Other People’s Children’ (the longer of the two novellas), two women, Ruth and Scotty, live in a big happy, noisy share house in Fitzroy. Scotty is a single school-teacher, Ruth a single mother with children. The lease runs out, and they move into a smaller house which they share with a musician, Alex. Ruth and Scotty have been close, but tension has crept into the friendship. Barriers are being erected, territory staked and reclaimed. Ruth is ready to move on, and she’ll take her children with her. Scotty remembers when the children belonged to everyone, responsibilities gladly shared.
In another share house, south of the river in Prahran, Madigan (inarticulate and apparently unemployable) lives in a converted shed. The house is occupied by hippies:
‘The women worked at odd things, tolerated the three children of one of them, cooked huge, ill-assorted vegetarian meals, and listened respectfully to the opinions of the men, all of whom were musicians of one stripe or another.’
Madigan is also a musician, he plays the mouth organ. At a pub gig, Madigan leads Alex’s band. There’s life in music.
By the end of the novella, Ruth will be moving out. And the others? It’s a choice of lifestyle.
I found these earlier pieces by Helen Garner interesting. While I prefer her non-fiction to her fiction, her keen observational skills and her ability to use words to craft worlds in microcosm is as clear here as it is in her later work.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
I’m still working my way through some of Helen Garner’s earlier work, and the republication of ‘Honour and Other People’s Children’ by Text Publishing is perfectly timed. These two novellas constitute Helen Garner’s second book, first published in 1981, four years after ‘Monkey Grip’ (which I’ve not yet read either).
These two novellas are about relationships, about connections with others and the stresses that result when relationships shift or break down.
In ‘Honour’, set in inner Melbourne, we learn that Kathleen and Frank are separated and share the parenting of their six-year-old daughter Flo. Apparently, the separation is amicable, until Frank partners with Jenny and then wants a divorce. He also wants Flo to live with him and Jenny. This hurts Kathleen, and Flo cannot understand why they can’t all live together as one happy family. The story ends, with Flo having persuaded Kathleen and Jenny to sit on a seesaw, facing each other.
‘It rose without haste, sweetly, to the level, steadied and stopped. They hung in the dark, airily balancing, motionless.’
Such a powerful image. The story is told in the third person from Kathleen’s point of view.
In ‘Other People’s Children’ (the longer of the two novellas), two women, Ruth and Scotty, live in a big happy, noisy share house in Fitzroy. Scotty is a single school-teacher, Ruth a single mother with children. The lease runs out, and they move into a smaller house which they share with a musician, Alex. Ruth and Scotty have been close, but tension has crept into the friendship. Barriers are being erected, territory staked and reclaimed. Ruth is ready to move on, and she’ll take her children with her. Scotty remembers when the children belonged to everyone, responsibilities gladly shared.
In another share house, south of the river in Prahran, Madigan (inarticulate and apparently unemployable) lives in a converted shed. The house is occupied by hippies:
‘The women worked at odd things, tolerated the three children of one of them, cooked huge, ill-assorted vegetarian meals, and listened respectfully to the opinions of the men, all of whom were musicians of one stripe or another.’
Madigan is also a musician, he plays the mouth organ. At a pub gig, Madigan leads Alex’s band. There’s life in music.
By the end of the novella, Ruth will be moving out. And the others? It’s a choice of lifestyle.
I found these earlier pieces by Helen Garner interesting. While I prefer her non-fiction to her fiction, her keen observational skills and her ability to use words to craft worlds in microcosm is as clear here as it is in her later work.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
June 6, 2018
Text Classics are a great set of Australian novels. Through them I have discovered and enjoyed Amy Witting, Elizabeth Harrower and others. This time it is one of Australia's sharp shooters - Helen Garner.
This book covers the reprinting of two novellas dealing with family life, separation and making decisions. As usual, Garner's characters could be the people next door with realistic relationship issues and human frailties at the fore. This book was Garner's second book after the gritty Monkey Grip which must have puzzled some early fans. But this book does show the range of honest portrayals that Garner is now renowned for.
This book covers the reprinting of two novellas dealing with family life, separation and making decisions. As usual, Garner's characters could be the people next door with realistic relationship issues and human frailties at the fore. This book was Garner's second book after the gritty Monkey Grip which must have puzzled some early fans. But this book does show the range of honest portrayals that Garner is now renowned for.
March 25, 2025
Love reading Garner. A good one for fans of Michelle de Kretser’s Theory & practice, exploring the same bohemian Melbourne tensions of the 1980s.
I always think about the time I saw someone describe Garner’s writing as “unflinching”, maybe about her diaries. It’s so true - she is gritty and awkwardly honest about emotions.
I always think about the time I saw someone describe Garner’s writing as “unflinching”, maybe about her diaries. It’s so true - she is gritty and awkwardly honest about emotions.
May 18, 2021
Honour: 4/5 Beautifully written with a semblance of recognised personality. Short, and tied up elegantly
Other People’s Children: 3/5 While Garner did what she does best in gorgeously describing minute details and subtle idiosyncrasies, the characters and plot felt out of reach, and difficult to relate to
Other People’s Children: 3/5 While Garner did what she does best in gorgeously describing minute details and subtle idiosyncrasies, the characters and plot felt out of reach, and difficult to relate to
January 24, 2019
Helen Garner's words and stories are beautifully poetic and real. There's no glamorising a dull situation, but more about bringing to light the true potential types of people can give to a story whether or not their stubborn ways can actually make a change without causing a raquet. I really enjoyed reading these short stories. I love the Australian, Melbourne voices and speech throughout the novel, felt familiar.
December 12, 2018
Thank you Text Publishing and Netgalley for an ARC of these novellas.
This ARC of two short novellas was well suited in between other reading. I always look out for Helen Garners books, having read a few and these did not disappoint.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This ARC of two short novellas was well suited in between other reading. I always look out for Helen Garners books, having read a few and these did not disappoint.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.
March 18, 2013
I should have given this only 3 Stars, but parts of it, especially the first story, were like real life.
Also, I guess this is the first time I read an Australian Author.
The guys from ɹǝpun uʍop might become my new faves. :)
Also, I guess this is the first time I read an Australian Author.
The guys from ɹǝpun uʍop might become my new faves. :)
May 19, 2020
This was too sad and miserable for me to say I enjoyed it. Life can be pretty hopeless, lonely and bleak. Helen Garner has a sharp skill for observation and has written exceptionally well about the characters in these two stories. However, I wasn’t drawn to any of them and didn’t like any of them. They were going nowhere, stuck in a hole and making nothing of their lives. The thing is, they got under my skin and they’re going to stay with me for a few days.
July 17, 2018
Having never heard of this author, and having been a little worried this would be a plotless pair of tales, I certainly enjoyed the first novella, concerning a young girl's desperate measures to keep her parents together, even under the full force of her would-be step-mum. The second, however, was much more like what I feared getting – no grip on character, no emotion for me to feel coming off the page I was interested in reading about, and not even a fully clear sense of time, location, setting, or why I should be interested in these dossers. Two stars then, as the better piece is the shorter one, but that at least deserves a look-see. I certainly can't speak for much beyond the first quarter of the other.
December 4, 2018
Again, Garner can write a bloody good observation! My copy is now filled with underlines and scrawl. I enjoyed Honour much more than Other People's Children, mostly because I engaged with the story better. Other People's Children is essentially about two long-term friends grappling with the issues that come with house sharing and children, but I really couldn't stand any of the characters and was challenged by the lifestyle they lead (one very different from my own). Hearing Garner say that this isn't her best work, made it easier for me to separate my love for Garner with my dislike for 'Other People's Children'. Honour was a good story and Garners prose was much more profound, not quite Monkey Grip - but I would have rated this 4 stars if I had have enjoyed OPC.
June 20, 2018
I very much enjoyed 'Honour', but felt as though it did not quite have the polish of Garner's later work. I was not immediately engrossed here, but became so as the novella went on. Garner has produced an incredibly intimate look into family and relationships, and the ways in which we interact in unusual situations. I wish this story had been longer.
'Other People's Children', however, I did not enjoy at all, and actually ended up not finishing it. I had very little interest in the characters, or what they were doing. The prose was rather lacklustre in comparison to what I have become used to with Garner's work, and I felt a little disappointed by this one.
'Other People's Children', however, I did not enjoy at all, and actually ended up not finishing it. I had very little interest in the characters, or what they were doing. The prose was rather lacklustre in comparison to what I have become used to with Garner's work, and I felt a little disappointed by this one.
June 8, 2009
yeah good.
April 30, 2012
Her usual, brilliant sharp and touching observation of human nature. She brings the mundane to life and makes you want to cringe at it and celebrate it at the same time!
February 19, 2017
Helen Garner writes about ordinary moments and ordinary people in such a beautiful way. Loved these stories.
March 29, 2024
Helen Garner was awarded the inaugural Melbourne Prize for Literature back in 2006. The prize is given for a writer's body of work "which has made an outstanding contribution to Australian literature and to cultural and intellectual life". That statement is missing the fact that this prize is for Victorian writers, and frankly, it is hard to think of a writer more Victorian, more Melbourne, and specifically more North Fitzroy, than Helen Garner. She, herself, has noted that she has only ever wanted to write about Australia as it is, not as a sort of phenomenon, not a strange country, filled with strange people and even stranger flora and fauna. Her subject matter rests with the inter-relationships of people living in the inner northern suburbs of this major city. There are not “sunlit plains extended” in her work. It’s all inner-suburban streets and pubs, trams and local shops, and lost and lonely people trying to find a path through life. Which probably explains why her work has not had a lot of resonance with overseas readers.
So it is with both novellas that go to make up this collection.
In Honour, the first of the novellas, we meet Kathleen and Frank, a married couple with one child Flo, who no longer live together. Frank is starting to see someone else and that relationship looks like becoming rather serious. He’s now starting to talk about a divorce and buying a house. Although he lives near to Kathleen, and sees their child regularly, he now wants to take over more and more of the day-to-day care of her and asks that fFo comes and stays with him for an extended period. Kathleen acquiesces and the story then goes on to explore the changing, dynamic relationships between the three adults and the child: Kathleen seems to have been cast adrift as her life is no longer revolving around her daughter; Frank doesn’t seem to change much and carries on thinking that everything will be fine; and Jenny, the new woman in Frank’s life, desperately wants to be friends with Kathleen as she has only been in the country for a few years and hasn’t made any close female friends.
In Other People’s Children the author introduces us to a couple of group houses where small families or singles all live together as a collective, sharing household and parenting duties. Scotty and Ruth are two women who are the mainstays of one of these houses. They were once close friends but that relationship is souring as the two start to move apart: Ruth has a new lover in her life and wants to move out and take her children with her; and Scotty, who has been almost a co-parent to Ruth’s children, despairs at their bonds breaking possibly even more than the break-up of the adult relationship.
Garner gets to the hearts of all of these connections, picking away at the small wounds that cut so deep, yet not being so voyeuristic as to watch the blood flow. She is interested in how people consciously or unconsciously hurt those around them, and also how those that are hurt react to the slights they receive.
Both novellas cover similar territory, though they are unconnected, but both left me with a slight sense of a story unfulfilled. This seems to be a feature of literary novellas, which non-genre authors appear to believe is what’s required with the form, namely, that it is fine to just end the story at any convenient break point, not allowing it to develop to a fully rounded outcome. It’s perfectly reasonable that both of these stories should leave the reader wanting more but I wonder if it might have been better for an extra portion of that “more” to have been provided. If a story demands to be written at novel length, even a short novel, then I’d prefer it to be allowed to extend itself, and stretch a little.
Then again, maybe this attitude says more about me as a reader than about Garner as a writer. If nothing else, and there is a lot else here, she has given me something to think about.
R: 4.0/5.0
So it is with both novellas that go to make up this collection.
In Honour, the first of the novellas, we meet Kathleen and Frank, a married couple with one child Flo, who no longer live together. Frank is starting to see someone else and that relationship looks like becoming rather serious. He’s now starting to talk about a divorce and buying a house. Although he lives near to Kathleen, and sees their child regularly, he now wants to take over more and more of the day-to-day care of her and asks that fFo comes and stays with him for an extended period. Kathleen acquiesces and the story then goes on to explore the changing, dynamic relationships between the three adults and the child: Kathleen seems to have been cast adrift as her life is no longer revolving around her daughter; Frank doesn’t seem to change much and carries on thinking that everything will be fine; and Jenny, the new woman in Frank’s life, desperately wants to be friends with Kathleen as she has only been in the country for a few years and hasn’t made any close female friends.
In Other People’s Children the author introduces us to a couple of group houses where small families or singles all live together as a collective, sharing household and parenting duties. Scotty and Ruth are two women who are the mainstays of one of these houses. They were once close friends but that relationship is souring as the two start to move apart: Ruth has a new lover in her life and wants to move out and take her children with her; and Scotty, who has been almost a co-parent to Ruth’s children, despairs at their bonds breaking possibly even more than the break-up of the adult relationship.
Garner gets to the hearts of all of these connections, picking away at the small wounds that cut so deep, yet not being so voyeuristic as to watch the blood flow. She is interested in how people consciously or unconsciously hurt those around them, and also how those that are hurt react to the slights they receive.
Both novellas cover similar territory, though they are unconnected, but both left me with a slight sense of a story unfulfilled. This seems to be a feature of literary novellas, which non-genre authors appear to believe is what’s required with the form, namely, that it is fine to just end the story at any convenient break point, not allowing it to develop to a fully rounded outcome. It’s perfectly reasonable that both of these stories should leave the reader wanting more but I wonder if it might have been better for an extra portion of that “more” to have been provided. If a story demands to be written at novel length, even a short novel, then I’d prefer it to be allowed to extend itself, and stretch a little.
Then again, maybe this attitude says more about me as a reader than about Garner as a writer. If nothing else, and there is a lot else here, she has given me something to think about.
R: 4.0/5.0
November 22, 2021
I really enjoyed the first novella "Honour" which was about a separated couple who continue to be friends and raise their child together. But the status quo is challenged when the husband asks the wife for a divorce so he may potentially marry his girlfriend. The relationships displayed are touching, thought provoking and full of pathos.
However, the second and longer novella felt quite different with a wide array of eccentric characters who read as caricatures. They are mostly short tempered people who house share in inner city Melbourne during the 70s and 80s who live very disjointed and unfulfilled lives. Their conversations don't seem to ever really go anywhere nor does it seem fully articulate as most of them are contrary or aggressive to each other. Scotty and Ruth are the two main characters who have a history of housesharing but have come to a point in their shared lives where they hate each other. I enjoyed reading about Ruth's background as a mother and the expectations of motherhood during this time. There seems to be a lot of sharing child rearing which I found fascinating...it came to a point where Ruth was quite negligent. Furthermore, I really never understood the character of Scotty and even more confounding is her fleeting relationship with a pathetic musician named Madigan who is probably the most volatile and frustrating character of them all. Thankfully, Garner's wonderful prose makes up for this strange collection of characters.
However, the second and longer novella felt quite different with a wide array of eccentric characters who read as caricatures. They are mostly short tempered people who house share in inner city Melbourne during the 70s and 80s who live very disjointed and unfulfilled lives. Their conversations don't seem to ever really go anywhere nor does it seem fully articulate as most of them are contrary or aggressive to each other. Scotty and Ruth are the two main characters who have a history of housesharing but have come to a point in their shared lives where they hate each other. I enjoyed reading about Ruth's background as a mother and the expectations of motherhood during this time. There seems to be a lot of sharing child rearing which I found fascinating...it came to a point where Ruth was quite negligent. Furthermore, I really never understood the character of Scotty and even more confounding is her fleeting relationship with a pathetic musician named Madigan who is probably the most volatile and frustrating character of them all. Thankfully, Garner's wonderful prose makes up for this strange collection of characters.
June 25, 2024
Bit difficult to rate this book as it contains two novellas, and they aren’t equal in value. If I was just reviewing the first of the two I would have made it a solid 3* but the second drags the overall rating down to 2*. Neither of the stories engaged me, although the first was more focused and more relatable. Honour tells of the relationship between a separated couple who have to negotiate the effect an actual divorce and a new relationship will have on their child. I felt that the child’s reaction to it all was convincing and quite moving. A child is also at the centre of the second novella, and again there is a failing relationship, but it is set amongst a disparate group of fairly alternative characters, none of whom appealed to me, and in whom I simply wasn’t interested. There are flashes of insight and perceptiveness, but not enough to carry the narrative along. Disappointing. This was only Helen Garner’s second work, and she hadn’t really developed her writing style, I felt. Better things came later.
March 21, 2023
Searing, honest portrayal of 3 characters lives as they negotiate in "Honour" a new relationship and the legal dissolution of a marriage which has at least until the new partner enters the scene, retained an emotional connection and a daughter in common. "Other People's Children" also relates the breakdown of the relationship between 2 single mothers who share a household and share the responsibility for 2 kids. The male influence in both stories is mostly ineffectual, either hard drinking or struggling musicians playing local bars. They exist on the periphery but influence the course of events that the women then have to navigate as best they can.
Utterly superb, insightful and perceptive writing from Helen Garner, highly recommended.
Utterly superb, insightful and perceptive writing from Helen Garner, highly recommended.
December 24, 2020
So like a lot of other people my first and favourite Helen Garner book is "Monkey Grip" a book i've read multiple times and seen the film adaptation (which is great btw, has the Divinyls in it) but i haven't read much of her other stuff.
I came across a battered old copy of this book in a charity shop, the inside cover had "S. Jones 1983" written in pencil in it. Who was/is S. Jones? Did they enjoy this book?
Anyway i liked this well enough, the writing is good and very typical of Garner. My only complaint is that it somehow lacks the intensity of "Monkey Grip" but i suppose you can't hit every ball for six.
Worth reading though.
I came across a battered old copy of this book in a charity shop, the inside cover had "S. Jones 1983" written in pencil in it. Who was/is S. Jones? Did they enjoy this book?
Anyway i liked this well enough, the writing is good and very typical of Garner. My only complaint is that it somehow lacks the intensity of "Monkey Grip" but i suppose you can't hit every ball for six.
Worth reading though.
November 9, 2025
Honour and Other People’s Children are two stories by Helen Garner that are thematically similar: both deal with ruptured relationships. Of the two, the short story Honour is more accomplished. The characters are sensitively drawn and the narrative is controlled and engaging. The second story, a novella, was somewhat disjointed. The premise, of how only the childless can love other people’s children is not clear. Perhaps Garner needed a full length novel to explore her ideas.
One for the fans but still a worthwhile read.
The first story is a solid 4 while the novella a generous 3.
One for the fans but still a worthwhile read.
The first story is a solid 4 while the novella a generous 3.
May 1, 2020
This was the follow up to Monkey Grip. It exposes the same territory and looking back I was struck by the sadness and unhappiness of those living in those shared relationships and houses. The bitterness of the breakup of friends is subtle and real and will be understood by anyone who has lived the hatred and petty fights leading to the dissolution. For me it sits uncomfortably between the raw energy of Monkey Grip and the remarkable observations of her later works.
July 23, 2020
Two novellas for the price of one! I preferred Honour, which deftly explores the tension between the ex-wife and wife to be. The other piece, while very much ringing true, was populated by far more annoying characters. This is to be expected, given that it is set amongst the alternative communes of the late-70s...
March 3, 2021
The second Garner book I have read, and whilst I did not enjoy this as much as the first one I read, the writing was still very real and you felt like the people were real, in both of the novellas included in the book.
Read
April 27, 2024i really liked this, would read another helen garner book. gets a lot done with v little, vivid characters (especially children), like how she pays attention to the humdrum and drama of domestic scenes.
July 2, 2019
Two short stories/novellas set in Australia by Australian author. The families are unconventional but the stories were enjoyable.
December 13, 2024
Really love her writing style but found myself ideologically opposed the hippies in "Other People's Children". "Honour" was a top read though.
January 18, 2021
Australian author Helen Garner brings you into her characters’ homes in her novellas, Honour & Other People’s Children. There is something quite strange about both of these. When you’re reading them you feel like you’re right in the middle of someone’s messy life and home. Garner has a way of making the everyday seem more interesting than it probably is. While these weren’t my favourite reads of all time, they felt compelling enough for me to want to finish.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews