Winter Close

by Hugh Mackay

A penetrating tale about suburbia and the social relationships people form to survive in the modern world from bestselling author Hugh MacKay.

Winter Close, a small, undistinguished cul-de-sac is home to an eclectic, vibrant group of people: the dubious Chika, eccentric old Mrs Spenser, the self-conscious Abels, the mysterious Stuthridges and the laid back Upton and Sexy Goods - just to name a few.

For Tom, a divorced counsellor living alone, Winter Close is his herd, the people he cares about. According to Tom, neighbours are like family, you can't choose them and you don't always like them, but you're bound to them.

Tom is pleasant to this family but conscious not to pry into their lives. It comes as a shock then to discover that his reserved, introverted manner may have isolated him from the rest of the residents. In fact he might not know them as well as he thinks.

As Tom starts to see his neighbours for the people they are, rather than the people he imagined they were, he starts to drop his own guard and discover himself.

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Hugh Mackay is a social researcher and novelist who has made a lifelong study of the attitudes and behaviour of Australians. He is the author of twelve books, including five bestsellers. The second edition of his latest non-fiction book, Advance Australia…Where? was published in September 2008, and his fifth novel, Ways of Escape was published in May 2009.

He is a fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and received the University of Sydney’s 2004 Alumni Award for community service. In recognition of his pioneering work in social research, Hugh has been awarded honorary doctorates by Charles Sturt, Macquarie and NSW universities.

He is a former deputy chairman of the Australia Council, a former chairman of trustees of Sydney Grammar School, and was the inaugural chairman of the ACT government’s Community Inclusion Board. He was a newspaper columnist for almost 30 years and now writes occasionally for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The West Australian. He is a frequent guest on ABC radio.

- Biography from Hugh Mackay's website

Reviews

[Chris Waterford · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seemed like a combination of a high school pupil's project about people in their street, and a basic psychology textbook to explain how different people react to different circumstances. The author writes well enough but I tired of the social and psychology lessons. I liked that it was set in a real neighbourhood.

[Dragan · Rating 2 out of 5]

well, this book makes me wonder what the point of it was? it has some character building but the story really doesn't go anywhere. there is hardly any progression to the story, although its a short book. I just didn't enjoy it that much.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a number of reasons I liked this book. It’s set in a northern Sydney suburb, and although I grew up in the south-west of Sydney, I could still relate to the comings and goings of a neighbourhood street. The main character reminded me of a work colleague of mine, a bumbling but endearing academic whose stories about the search for the love of his life often had us in stitches. The suburb experiences a major summer storm, an occurrence many Sydneysiders have witnessed, in particular the aftermath. It’s well written and there are some funny sections, as well as some philosophical examination of community and relationships.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but personally I really enjoyed the rambling psychological and sociological reflections of Tom, the main character, and his neighbours’ occasional assessments of him.

[Helen Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish I had neighbours like this

[David Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic insight into Sydney Living. I live approximately 5 kms from the site of the book's setting so I can relate closely to the characters. I've given 4 stars because I found the protagonist just a little bit too absorbed in himself. I would have liked instead to have had more character development of secondary characters.

[Lesley Moseley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unforgetable characters. Dreadful sense of realism

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story of a Sydney street.