Diving, Falling

by Kylie Mirmohamadi

It's never too late to rewrite your own story.

For years, Leila Whittaker has been the mediator in her family. She smoothes ruffled feathers between her sons; endures the volatile moods of their father, the acclaimed Australian artist Ken Black; and even swallows the bitter pill of Ken’s endless affairs. All this, for the quiet hum of creative freedom her marriage provides. Or so she tells herself.

When Ken dies, leaving his artist’s estate to their two sons, and the pointed amount of sixty-nine thousand dollars to his muse, Anita, Leila decides she’s had enough. It’s time to seek some peace (and pleasure) of her own …

Diving, Falling is an elegant, exhilarating journey through grief, betrayal, and the intoxicating rediscovery of joy. Ripe with wickedly wry observations, unashamedly bold and sexy, it examines the calculations and sacrifices women make to keep the peace, escape their pasts, and find the agency to pursue their own passions.

Genres: Fiction, Australia, Family

250 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2024

Reviews

[Sheree | Keeping Up With The Penguins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diving, Falling is a book set in the inconceivably large shadow cast by a volatile patriarch, even after death. It’s an intense subject for a debut, but one that Kylie Mirmohamadi handles well, with moments of amazing pith and insight.

My full review of Diving, Falling is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.

[Carol - Reading Writing and Riesling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read on one sitting! Luscious writing, emotive and enthralling.

[Karan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well this was not what I expected. The writing was lovely, fluid and free flowing but I really struggled to like or relate to any of the characters. After losing her husband Ken, Leila Whittaker struggles to find herself and seems to indulge in a lot of negative behaviour in her attempts. I found all of the characters to be self absorbed, self indulgent and pretty nasty.
Maybe this says more about my usual literary preferences
I was relieved to reach the end and would rate this 2.5 stars.
Thanks to Better Reading and Scribe Publications for an ARC.

[Belinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Better Reading for an advance reading copy of Diving, Falling.

This book left me feeling quite disappointed. I found it hard to like any of the characters and I didn't really understand their actions and motivations.

After the death of her cheating and abusive husband, Leila meets Magnus and then cheats on him with a married man and destroys his marriage. Through this, Leila also keeps a connection with her dead husband's mistress.

The central theme of infidelity plays a significant role in the story, which I found off-putting. It overshadowed other potential plotlines and made the narrative feel one-dimensional. Instead of exploring the complexities of relationships, the book seemed to rely heavily on this topic, which ultimately detracted from my overall enjoyment.

While the writing style was ok, it wasn’t enough to redeem the unlikable characters and the overemphasis on infidelity. Unfortunately, “Diving, Falling” didn’t resonate with me.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

“No man, no children, no dog, falling asleep when and where I wanted, and waking to my own bodily rhythms. No one’s genius to nurture, and no one’s arse to wipe.”

Terrific writing, a joy to read. Not a cliche in sight. Not littered with metaphor. What a relief. This is my kind of easy reading.

[Carly · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Diving, Falling" by Kylie Mirmohadi is a book that takes some time to find its rhythm. The first five chapters were a challenge for me, but as the narrative progressed, it grew increasingly engaging. Mirmohadi's strength lies in her vivid scene descriptions, which make you feel as if you’re right there in the moment.

While the protagonist is not particularly endearing, she is portrayed with depth and complexity, and Mirmohadi effectively evokes a range of emotions, from frustration to indignation on her behalf. However, the conclusion was somewhat unsatisfying, leaving several storylines unresolved and ending on an open note.

Despite this, the book is overall enjoyable and easy to read.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diving, Falling follows writer Leila Whittaker through the aftermath of her husband’s death - the acclaimed artist Ken Black - as she tries to maintain the facade built to protect his image at the cost of her own feelings. As she slowly lets the facade crumble, she begins to find herself again among the rubble.
This is the author’s debut novel and I’d definitely read her future novels. Her writing style was engaging and the characters all fully developed, leaving you caring about some and disliking others. A must read for those who enjoy contemporary fiction with a family focus and feminist slant. A great read.

[Book My Imagination · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me feel a while host of emotions.
From anger at the treatment, the now deceased artist gave his family whilst alive, to sadness, from the hurt that the family had endured, in many ways over many years. And then the " good for you Leila" moment, when she took back her life.
What this book highlights is the ongoing choices and sacrifices we as women must make to accommodate people who take us for granted and treat us unkindly.
However, I failed to connect with Leila.
I found her a little unlikeable.
This didn't alter my thoughts on the writing or the book in general, though.
Her two son, as different as they are, were a highlight and also Charles and his woodworking.

[Gavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well crafted writing, but a slightly depressing story full of unlikable characters - everyone seems completely self-absorbed, annoying and clueless - which made the book challenging to read (not in a negative sense) but feel a bit two dimensional.

[Hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Diving. Falling” by Kylie Mirmohamadi, follows Leila Whitaker in the aftermath of her philandering, artist husband’s death, to her burgeoning steps out from his shadow and making a life for herself.
The first few chapters were hard going, and even though I was able to move through the rest of the story a bit easier, I still found the story to be a bit of a struggle. I think this was due to the authors writing style – quite wordy and a bit pretentious in my opinion. Frankly, I was grateful for the short chapters.
I didn’t connect with any of the characters, in fact the only one I liked was treated appallingly by the main character. I also thought the ending didn’t really wrap up the story. It just left me hanging.
I’d like to thank BetterReading and Scribe Publications for an advance copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Sami · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was well written with some insightful lines and moments of heartfelt emotion. I appreciated that it wasn't your standard domestic drama, being about the widow of a famous and wealthy artist and all the associated things that go along with that. He was emotional, hot headed, creative, a philanderer, and abuser... given all that I was expecting it to be more about the MC coming to terms with how 20+ years of living on edge with someone like that has shaped who she is, vs who she gets to become after his death. I was kind of expecting a tale of recovery and rebirth. Instead I grew more and more distant from this character as the book wore on. I've read books with wealthy characters before so it wasn't just her privilege that grated... A character can be privileged and still be likeable. This woman wasn't. She doubled down on the privilege and just became selfish in the extreme. She was always inwardly rolling her eyes at her sister for not wanting to spend money (when they were buying an expensive beachside property as a 'second' home... blech). Then she just has an affair with a married man, not even dithering over it or feeling the slightest bit guilty, even while she's taking that man's son into her house and using him to replace her grown sons like a desperate woman who can't let her big boy grow up. She was moaning at one point that her son didn't tell her he and his wife were trying for a baby... you really want to know how often your son is bonking his wife? Yikes. I also never thought she admitted how damaging her late husband's treatment of her sons was - the one he outwardly abused and the other he ignored. I feel like she thought in the end it was all ok because she 'favoured' the one he ignored... ? WTF. Then she gets a happy ending with the adulterer who leaves his wife ... she didn't deserve it. She didn't think once about the man she was with when she dallied, yes he was an insufferable bore but instead of talking to him about their relationship she just has an affair and waits for it to blow up, and then when he's angry the book makes him out to be the bad guy. Double yikes. There was just too much wealth and privilege and lack of accountability from any of the characters except Seb and Charlie. Oh, then at the end she's writing a novel which it's strongly indicated will cast her best friend's daughter in a bad light and she just shrugs and thinks, oh well I guess I'll lose Vanessa, who she's been friends with for 30 years...? total bitch honestly.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel. It’s the story of a woman not so much rediscovering herself after her husband’s death, as reasserting herself.

Leila Whittaker has endured decades in a bad marriage. Her husband was adulterous and abusive. However, Ken was also a brilliant painter, and somehow that excused everything. Leila became used to interceding between him and their sons, presenting a good face to the world, and sublimating most of her own needs and wants.

For years Leila’s spoken dismissively and openly to friends of Ken’s affairs, drinking, physical abuse – but now that he’s dead, she’s unwilling to accept that as the defining note of her life. Leila is going to find both peace and pleasure for herself.

Leila genuinely experiences grief at Ken’s death, despite the very obvious reasons to despise her husband. And of course, it’s hard to walk away from the role you’ve filled for most of your adult life. Your kids, your friends, and in Leila’s case, the public, all kind of expect you to keep filling it.
So we see Leila going through the process of grieving not just her husband, but also the previous shape of some of her relationships. It’s a subtle but powerful story, and I appreciated the complexity of Leila’s feelings. They felt very real.

Many readers will empathise with Leila’s need to resolve some things, to hang on to others, and to find a way to move forward from a period which encompassed a large part of her life. Leila makes mistakes – not all of which every reader will empathise with – but eventually is able to articulate to herself what she wants.

This is both a subtle and complex novel, told in a narrative style which feels a little understated. This is less about the drama than the feelings under the drama. I enjoyed it a great deal – it’s absorbing and entertaining, but also extremely thought provoking.

Readers may feel invited to re-examine their own lives and relationships.

If you enjoyed this review, please visit www.otherdreamsotherlives.home.blog to read more.

[Alistair · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a revelation: this author’s debut novel is an extraordinary read. I have difficulty realising this is her first novel. The writing appears so effortless, and yet Mirmohamadi has bigger fish to fry. ( Apologies for the awful metaphor). Pre-eminent artist Ken Black is dead, and it is in the arena of Ken Black’s legacy that Leila (pronounced “ Layla”) intends to stake her claim. Not only on her husband’s life time of painting, also his affairs, and the impact all this has had on her Two Boys : capitalisation intended. It becomes more intense when her best friend’s daughter, is engaged to Leila’s eldest, Sebastian.
This novel could almost have the subtitle: A woman’s place; easily classified as “a domestic drama”. Mirmohamadi is wise to The Reader, and, yes, Leila does deal with the household stuff, but she’s also a creative person in her own right. A published novelist, in a minor key, I don’t think Leila would dispute that assertion. Yet after her husband’s death, The Reader comes to realise what she’s sacrificed in propping up her alcoholic, philandering, sometimes abusive husband: not to her but their youngest son. It takes some gumption to have a relationship with one’s two closest friends; one of whom has been screwing your husband for years with a turn-a-blind eye acknowledgment. Leila submits to so many of her adult children’s requests regarding the legacy of Ken Black: it’s almost painful. But Dear Reader, read on; I don’t think you’ll have a problem, because Mirmohamadi knows where’s she’s going, and all I can say, is follow her. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

[Don Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, okay. I liked the reviews (I sometimes cheat and read some before my own review) which said it is difficult to enjoy a story where none of the characters is likeable.
Leila is a fifty-something woman who has just lost her husband and is grieving….mostly. Ken was a famous Australian artist, who cheated a lot on Leila, but could often be lovable and generous to his family, which included two boys, now grown men. So the whole premise of the novel seemed to be, how could Leila find her own way in the world, given she had subjugated herself to her husband for so many years? The story is set in present-day Melbourne, with Sydney as a respite for her later.
We found out that Leila is a novelist who had mental problems when younger, and her children were little. The two boys seem to be her saviour. She finds a seeming match with a slightly older smart man, Magnus, but ends up cheating on him later.
What I found somewhat irritating was the pretentious, arty style the main character has, dropping obscure words into the narrative as some sort of intellectual snobbery. That said, there were many prescient observations on family life and growing up surrounded by artists.

[what_amanda_read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diving, Falling follows novelist Leila Whittaker through the aftermath of her husband's death - the acclaimed artist Ken Black - and her journey of self-discovery and self-love.

For years, she's been the family mediator, smoothing ruffled feathers between her husband and sons; enduring his volatile moods, and putting up with his affairs. When Ken dies, leaving his artist's estate to their sons, and sixty-nine thousand dollars to his muse, Anita, Leila decides she's had enough. It's time to seek some peace and pleasure of her own.

This debut novel is a joy to read. The writing is truly sublime. 💝 I can't wait to see what Kylie writes next.

"In those first few weeks, I lived life like I used to, like we all used to. A 1980s analogue existence. Focused reading, uninterrupted writing, walking, following the water's edge one way, in the quiet moments just before dawn, and then back again, trailing a stick behind me. It was better than it used to be. No man, no children, no dog, falling asleep when and where I wanted to, and waking to me own bodily rhythms. No one's genius to nurture, and no one's arse to wipe...."

[MargCal · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️

Finished reading: Diving, Falling / Kylie Mirmohamadi ........ 24 Sept. 2024
ISBN: 9781761385926 .... eBook

I really liked this character-driven novel ..... but
It did seem to go on a bit (for three years) as the main character, a writer, went over and over and over her life following the death of her world-famous-artist husband at the start of this story.
And yet the characters hooked me - how they related to each other, how they handled the artist's legacy, the writer's relationships with all the other characters, the way the writer reshapes her life as a widow and the mistakes she makes along the way.
The characters are all flawed but not so removed from reality that you can't identify with certain aspects, if not with the actual setting.
Oh ... and the over-60s are having sex!

It's hard to guess the length of an e-book. But it's not long at all by today's door-stop standards.

Not sure about a recommendation .... as I say, I liked it. But I can imagine quite a few wouldn't, much.

Borrowed from my local library (BorrowBox)

[Jody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Better Reading and Scribe Publications for providing an ARC of Diving, Falling by Kylie Mirmohamadi in exchange for an honest review.

While well written by the author, I found the storyline hard to get in to and unrelatable.

When famous artist Ken Black dies, his wife Lelia Whittaker (herself a well known writer) is faced with making a new life for herself. What evolves is a path of destruction for the people around her as she embarks on the exact behaviour that she had to endure during her own marriage. I found this whole story disappointing as I was hoping to see a person learn to shine on their own and was instead given someone that became self absorbed and hurt the people around her when they needed her. By the end I was left feeling unsettled with the story and it's definitely not something I'd read again.

[Carol A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully drawn characters. Based initially in Melbourne Australia the story starts just after the main character’s husband dies.

It covers her life after his death. She a published author has lived a life in the shadow of her famous painter spouse now forges her own path.

I particularly liked how like in life things happen and people like them or not, disappoint and disagree with each other while not everything has a neat ending.

My favourite quote - the one that lives the longest gets the last word.

[Bruce Campbell · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5. It's not often I give up half way through but I did with this one. It's very well written but it is just boring. None of the characters are likeable, except perhaps the artist, Ken Black, who died and created the scenario. I have since read reviews and apparently it gets better. I would rather just move on to something more meaningful. By the way, its about an artist who dies early and leaves a mess behind in the way of relationships.

[Darlene MacNeill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing flows so beautifully, with characters that feel real. (I hate Lola!)
The story isn’t much about anything, it takes an exceptional writer to tell a mundane story like this and make it worth reading. I’ve read books with deep plots and terrible writing, this is the opposite. This author could write about anything and I would be eager to read it.
I heard this was her first published book. How impressive!! Well done to her.

[John Purcell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gobbled this down in one sitting while it rained incessantly outside. Beautifully written, wise and generous, this short novel felt like a long conversation with an old friend. The moral complexity of the novel is exactly what I crave in modern fiction, but it looks to have troubled many readers on this unforgiving site, and is therefore, sadly, something publishers seem increasingly too afraid to embrace. Bravo Kylie and Scribe for giving me something with a bit of gristle to chew on.

[Matt Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3 1/2 stars. I’m trying to expand my horizons when it comes to what I choose to read. This book was promoted on an Insta page I like and I was happy I gave it a go. I’m glad I did. I found it a very easy read. While I had some sympathy for Leila, I did find her actions towards the back end of the book frustrating. A part of me was frustrated that there were no real consequences for her actions

[Kerrie Kellner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well written story that flowed along smoothly. The characters were beautifully flawed, relationships dysfunctional and yet all believable. A look at how generations of bad parenting affects the next generation, touching on mental illness. How do you change when those around you try to keep you where you are? Loved it.

[Dani Netherclift · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book! What a joy. I have hardly been able to put it down. It’s one of those rare books that you can hardly wait to spend another few minutes with, in between things. Too good to wait until you have a decent chunk of time. I loved Leila and the 'diving' and 'falling' of her character arc. The writing is exceptional, and I relate well to the two Australian locations.

[Susan Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ken Black the artist - acclaimed - even in death, he controls from the grave, his devoted wife Leila has put up with his philandering ways for years - then commences her widowhood doing the same thing, cheating on her sensible and caring partner with a married man, ruin ripping lives apart. Emotional writing digging into depths of feelings.

[Katrina T · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was just not for me. The characters were boring and so was the ‘story’. I am still waiting to see how Leila, the widow of the famous Ken Black is awesome, Ken Black is awful, finds her own life after his death.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book explores grief and complex family dynamics. If you like books like Paper Palace and Hello Beautiful, I think you would like this one too. A read that contains an interesting inner voice and looks at the impact of layers of violence and trauma on different people.

[Fran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the first half of this book quite enjoyable, but by the end the main character annoyed me so much. She obvously was badly treated by her husband, but in the end behaved in much the same way as him. I don't understnad that selfishness.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book and being in this protagonists mind. Loved the insights of creatives and the whimsy of that along with the depth of exploring tangled relationships in the family and herself. Based in Melbourne with some Sydney journey too.