Salt City Runaway

by Gillian O'Shaughnessy

Genres: Short Stories

103 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 9, 2026

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impressive. I devoured this over a single cup of tea that went cold beside me, and I’ll be returning to it again. Salt City Runaway proves just how powerful flash fiction can be. Every story lands with a sharp click and echoes long after it ends.

After attending Gillian O’Shaughnessy’s workshop at the Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival, I’m even more in awe of the craft behind this collection.

[Bec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Salt City Run Away by Gillian O’Shaughnessy

Thoughts: This was my first time reading a flash fiction book, and while it’s a little outside my usual reading style, I enjoyed stepping outside my comfort zone and trying something new for my local book club. The stories explored some heavy and thought provoking topics, giving each one depth despite their shorter length.

One of my favourite aspects was the setting. Recognising familiar locations around WA made it feel unique and created an extra sense of connection while reading.

Looking back, I think this is the kind of book that benefits from being read slowly, taking time to pause and reflect after each story. Our book club discussion really highlighted this, as it was fascinating to hear how differently everyone interpreted the same stories. While I don’t think flash fiction will become my usual genre, I really appreciated the experience and how this collection sparked such meaningful conversations.

Synopsis: From Western Australia’s port city of Fremantle, to its red-dusted Goldfields and wave-washed South West, women and girls fight for recognition and solace. Slippery, complicated, tender and broken, they carry their humanity in vivid, strange worlds. Salt City Runaway is a luminous debut that reveals beauty and wonder in the smallest of stories. It is a masterclass in flash fiction.

Please check the content/trigger warnings prior to reading this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫 [3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars on Goodreads]

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written short stories bursting with creativity and a strange, wistful nostalgia, but without the emotional punch carried by a longer story. I think flash fiction just isn’t for me. I like time to grow with characters and get to know them over the length of a novel, rather than a few pages of dreamy sketches of characters and plot. These brief vignettes have a feeling of a forgotten memory on a Sunday afternoon that you try to recall and just see the edges of ever so faintly. Which I think is the intention of the book - just not my cup of tea. I felt both inspired creatively upon finishing and extremely depressed - a lot of poverty and outcasts are described in this story, in sad detail.

[John Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Former ABC Perth presenter Gillian O'Shaughnessy not only has one of the finest laughs you'll ever wish to experience, she's also an outstanding writer of flash fiction. Salt City Run Away is a collection of quirky, poignant, punchy stories, with quite the homage to Western Australia - as fresh as the Freo Doctor, with a hint of sheep ship to keep it real in true port city style. It had me at the first story, Helen Garner is Living in my Letterbox. Exceptional reading 👏 📖

[Bronwen Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful and beautiful collection of flash fiction. Some touch on common themes - baby loss, early pregnancy, family break-ups, but they are always told in precise and powerful language. There is light relief too, in a handful of surreal stories. And a marvellous sense of place - these stories all take place in the area around Freemantle where O'Shaughnessy lives. A collection to pick up time and time again.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inhaled this on the plane from Brisbane to Perth. Stunning collection of short fiction centred around WA locations dear to the authors life and ft. The lives of women across the decades, many battling the gilded cages and not so gilded cages they find themselves in.

[Laurena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me preface by saying I am not a short story / flash fiction fan, and this was read for a bookclub. I definitely gained more from the stories by dipping in and out, rather than reading from start to finish. Some of the stories took me back to a particular emotion or feeling but most were too minimal to grab onto with any depth of feeling.

[Kathleen O'Reilly Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having devoured Salt City Run Away, I believe Gillian O’Shaughnessy to be a literary genius who cannot be overrated. This stunning, clever and unique collection, left me thrilled and chilled.
A powerful feast of flash prose with subtle sprinklings of humour, both light and dark. I’m in awe of O’Shaughnessy’s mastery of the genre.

[Belinda Rowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning collection of flash stories set in Western Australia by one of Perth's most well regarded flash fiction writers. These well-rendered stories explore themes of love, loss, family, hardship and coming of age. Through deft and nuanced handling of character, O'Shaughnessy shines a light on humanity; these tiny stories will make you laugh, and they will make you feel deeply.

[Fiona Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of short form writing from an accomplished author. Bite sized beauties with rich imagery and poignant tales set in Western Australia. Stunning portraits about the lives of girls and women. Highly recommended.

[David Whish-Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's mighty power and poise in these beautiful stories, which deserve to be widely read. I've been dipping in and out, then reflecting and dreaming, always a sign that a story hits its mark.

[Nik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this and feel softer larger deeper for it. I want everyone i love to read it for fun and beauty

[Emma Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breathtaking! Reading this is like wafting through memories - stories obscured by time without beginning or end. So beautifully written and with an afterburn that quietly creeps up on you.

[Timothy Boudreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dazzling collection. Highly recommended for flash fiction lovers--or for lovers of fiction, period!

[Lynne Cairns · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some great little stories tucked away inside this book. Set in Western Australian places well-known to O'Shaunessy, they will appeal to readers who like interesting short stories.