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Australia Day
Australia Day is a collection of stories by debut author Melanie Cheng. The people she writes abut are young, old, rich, poor, married, widowed, Chinese, Lebanese, Christian, Muslim. What they have in common—no matter where they come from—is the desire we all share to feel that we belong. The stories explore universal themes of love, loss, family and identity, while at the same time asking crucial questions about the possibility of human connection in a globalised world.
This is an important new voice, offering a fresh perspective on contemporary Australia. Her effortless, unpretentious realism balances an insider's sensitivity and understanding with an outsider's clear-eyed objectivity, showing us a version of ourselves richer and more multifaceted than anything we've seen before.
This is an important new voice, offering a fresh perspective on contemporary Australia. Her effortless, unpretentious realism balances an insider's sensitivity and understanding with an outsider's clear-eyed objectivity, showing us a version of ourselves richer and more multifaceted than anything we've seen before.
225 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 3, 2017
27 people are currently reading
816 people want to read
About the author
Melanie Cheng
11 books138 followersI am a writer, mum and general practitioner from Melbourne, Australia. I have been published in print and online. My writing has appeared in The Age, Meanjin, Overland, Griffith REVIEW, Sleepers Almanac, The Bridport Prize Anthology, Lascaux Review, Visible Ink, Peril, The Victorian Writer and Seizure. My short story collection, Australia Day, won the 2016 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Unpublished Manuscript and went on to win the 2018 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction. My latest book is the novel, Room for a Stranger. If Saul Bellow is right and “a writer is a reader moved to emulation” then I am moved by authors like Richard Yates, Alice Munro, Haruki Murakami and Christos Tsiolkas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
April 27, 2018
‘Her [Cheng’s] effortless, unpretentious realism balances and insider’s sensitivity and understanding with an outsider’s clear-eyed objectivity, showing us a version of ourselves richer and more multifaceted than anything we’ve seen before.’
Book Muse
'[Cheng’s] individual characters suggest the ways in which we might move forward...Australia Day imagines a tomorrow where we can love our communities, our celebrations and our food, without leaving behind critical good taste.’
Sydney Review of Books
‘Offering a fresh viewpoint on modern Australia, debut author Cheng is a significant new voice on the literary scene.’
PS News
‘The stories are unpretentious, diverse, and a lot of the time, disconcertingly real. Cheng’s characters are just as well realised; they live on in your head long after you’ve put her book down.’
Lifted Brow, Favourite Books of 2017
‘This smart, engaging short story collection offers fresh perspectives on what it means to be Australian today. The stories also explore identity and belonging in a variety of other ways, delving into family, love, class and education. Big themes aside, every story is beautifully written and a total pleasure to read.’
Emily Maguire, Australian Women’s Weekly
‘This is a theme that Cheng’s stories revisit again and again. All of her characters—a diverse cast of difference races and faiths—are searching for connection or a sense of belonging, and coming up short. Despite its title the focus of this collection is not explicitly on that increasingly controversial public holiday. Rather, it is on the struggles, internal and external, that occur when people from different backgrounds meet by chance or are brought together…Australia Day is a bittersweet, beautifully crafted collection that will be much admired by fans of Cate Kennedy and Tony Birch.’
Books+Publishing
‘Melanie Cheng is an astonishingly deft and incisive writer. With economy and elegance, she creates a dazzling mosaic of contemporary life, of how we live now. Hers is a compelling new voice in Australian literature.’
Christos Tsiolkas
‘What a wonderful book, a book with bite. These stories have a real edge to them. They are complex without being contrived, humanising, but never sentimental or cloying—and, ultimately, very moving.’
Alice Pung
‘In each story, Melanie Cheng creates an entire microcosm, peeling back the superficial to expose the raw nerves of contemporary Australian society. Her eye is sharp and sympathetic, her characters flawed and funny and utterly believable.’
Jennifer Down
‘Melanie Cheng’s stories are a deep dive into the diversity of humanity. They lead you into lives, into hearts, into unexplored places, and bring you back transformed.’
Michelle Wright
‘The characters stay in the mind, their lives and experiences mirroring many of our own, challenging us to think how we might respond in their place. An insightful, sometimes uncomfortable portrayal of multicultural Australia from an observant and talented writer.’
Ranjana Srivastava
‘A bittersweet, beautifully crafted collection.’
Books + Publishing
‘Australia Day is an absorbing panorama of contemporary Australia…These are 14 powerfully perceptive stories, written with love, humour, realism, and a distinct edginess. While the terrain covered might be familiar, Cheng’s take on our treasured multiculturalism feels fresh… It’s necessary reading, not only because it’s a microcosm of who we are, but because each story is a gem, and a joy to behold.’
Simon McDonald
‘If only the PM might pick up a copy, even by mistake.’
Saturday Paper
‘A wonderful feat of storytelling…Melanie Cheng is an exciting new writer.’
Readings
‘A sumptuous collection of fourteen short stories, which are disparate but with modern Australia or Australians at their heart, exploring issues of racism, infidelity, grief, parenthood, children and ageing. Despite the brevity of some of these stories (one is just eight pages), they are heartfelt and Melbourne-based Cheng paints the characters beautifully.’
Herald Sun
‘A panorama of contemporary multicultural Australia that explores each and everyone’s desire to belong.’
Book Bonding
‘A diverse, captivating collection of short stories.’
Better Read Than Dead
‘The happy surprise of Cheng’s work as a collection lies in her resolute grasp of the absolute normalcy of a culture that not so many years ago was divided and dually suspicious. The census gives us the facts but it takes fiction to make reality three-dimensional.’
Sydney Morning Herald
‘The author’s empathetic eye and easy facility with dialogue make the anthology a strong debut, with the longer stories in particular offering breadth and depth…It feels like Cheng has taken a wide sample from the census to craft this inclusive portrait of contemporary Australia.’
Big Issue
‘A stunning debut that takes its place among Australian short story greats.’
AU Review
‘Cheng’s work is polished and affecting. Australia Day is that thing we all chase: a complex, engaging and timely read.’
Lifted Brow
‘Cheng paints a holistic snapshot of Australian life, with the result being a collection of stories that are simultaneously cynical and hopeful…The ambiguity inherent in labelling something “Australian" is also manifest in Cheng’s characters, prompting the reader to interrogate their own definition of what it means to be Australian.’
Kill Your Darlings
‘Melanie Cheng writes prose that gets straight to the heart of the matter and tells it how it is…The more I sit here and reflect on each story in this collection, the stronger and more powerful they become.’
Sam Still Reading
‘Melanie Cheng’s voice is strong, compassionate and embracing in these 14 stories that reflect the diversity of Australians and the starkness of human frailty. The recurring theme in all these stories is the ability to re-form lives that, at first, might seem to be shattered beyond repair.’
Good Reading, four stars
‘The different cultures, the intriguing characters all left me wanting more. I’d love to see some longer fiction from Melanie Cheng in the future but I’ll happily accept anything and everything she writes. A fantastic talent who has nailed the art of the short story.’
Sam Still Reading
‘Wonderful.’
Christos Tsiolkas, Sydney Morning Herald’s Year in Reading
Book Muse
'[Cheng’s] individual characters suggest the ways in which we might move forward...Australia Day imagines a tomorrow where we can love our communities, our celebrations and our food, without leaving behind critical good taste.’
Sydney Review of Books
‘Offering a fresh viewpoint on modern Australia, debut author Cheng is a significant new voice on the literary scene.’
PS News
‘The stories are unpretentious, diverse, and a lot of the time, disconcertingly real. Cheng’s characters are just as well realised; they live on in your head long after you’ve put her book down.’
Lifted Brow, Favourite Books of 2017
‘This smart, engaging short story collection offers fresh perspectives on what it means to be Australian today. The stories also explore identity and belonging in a variety of other ways, delving into family, love, class and education. Big themes aside, every story is beautifully written and a total pleasure to read.’
Emily Maguire, Australian Women’s Weekly
‘This is a theme that Cheng’s stories revisit again and again. All of her characters—a diverse cast of difference races and faiths—are searching for connection or a sense of belonging, and coming up short. Despite its title the focus of this collection is not explicitly on that increasingly controversial public holiday. Rather, it is on the struggles, internal and external, that occur when people from different backgrounds meet by chance or are brought together…Australia Day is a bittersweet, beautifully crafted collection that will be much admired by fans of Cate Kennedy and Tony Birch.’
Books+Publishing
‘Melanie Cheng is an astonishingly deft and incisive writer. With economy and elegance, she creates a dazzling mosaic of contemporary life, of how we live now. Hers is a compelling new voice in Australian literature.’
Christos Tsiolkas
‘What a wonderful book, a book with bite. These stories have a real edge to them. They are complex without being contrived, humanising, but never sentimental or cloying—and, ultimately, very moving.’
Alice Pung
‘In each story, Melanie Cheng creates an entire microcosm, peeling back the superficial to expose the raw nerves of contemporary Australian society. Her eye is sharp and sympathetic, her characters flawed and funny and utterly believable.’
Jennifer Down
‘Melanie Cheng’s stories are a deep dive into the diversity of humanity. They lead you into lives, into hearts, into unexplored places, and bring you back transformed.’
Michelle Wright
‘The characters stay in the mind, their lives and experiences mirroring many of our own, challenging us to think how we might respond in their place. An insightful, sometimes uncomfortable portrayal of multicultural Australia from an observant and talented writer.’
Ranjana Srivastava
‘A bittersweet, beautifully crafted collection.’
Books + Publishing
‘Australia Day is an absorbing panorama of contemporary Australia…These are 14 powerfully perceptive stories, written with love, humour, realism, and a distinct edginess. While the terrain covered might be familiar, Cheng’s take on our treasured multiculturalism feels fresh… It’s necessary reading, not only because it’s a microcosm of who we are, but because each story is a gem, and a joy to behold.’
Simon McDonald
‘If only the PM might pick up a copy, even by mistake.’
Saturday Paper
‘A wonderful feat of storytelling…Melanie Cheng is an exciting new writer.’
Readings
‘A sumptuous collection of fourteen short stories, which are disparate but with modern Australia or Australians at their heart, exploring issues of racism, infidelity, grief, parenthood, children and ageing. Despite the brevity of some of these stories (one is just eight pages), they are heartfelt and Melbourne-based Cheng paints the characters beautifully.’
Herald Sun
‘A panorama of contemporary multicultural Australia that explores each and everyone’s desire to belong.’
Book Bonding
‘A diverse, captivating collection of short stories.’
Better Read Than Dead
‘The happy surprise of Cheng’s work as a collection lies in her resolute grasp of the absolute normalcy of a culture that not so many years ago was divided and dually suspicious. The census gives us the facts but it takes fiction to make reality three-dimensional.’
Sydney Morning Herald
‘The author’s empathetic eye and easy facility with dialogue make the anthology a strong debut, with the longer stories in particular offering breadth and depth…It feels like Cheng has taken a wide sample from the census to craft this inclusive portrait of contemporary Australia.’
Big Issue
‘A stunning debut that takes its place among Australian short story greats.’
AU Review
‘Cheng’s work is polished and affecting. Australia Day is that thing we all chase: a complex, engaging and timely read.’
Lifted Brow
‘Cheng paints a holistic snapshot of Australian life, with the result being a collection of stories that are simultaneously cynical and hopeful…The ambiguity inherent in labelling something “Australian" is also manifest in Cheng’s characters, prompting the reader to interrogate their own definition of what it means to be Australian.’
Kill Your Darlings
‘Melanie Cheng writes prose that gets straight to the heart of the matter and tells it how it is…The more I sit here and reflect on each story in this collection, the stronger and more powerful they become.’
Sam Still Reading
‘Melanie Cheng’s voice is strong, compassionate and embracing in these 14 stories that reflect the diversity of Australians and the starkness of human frailty. The recurring theme in all these stories is the ability to re-form lives that, at first, might seem to be shattered beyond repair.’
Good Reading, four stars
‘The different cultures, the intriguing characters all left me wanting more. I’d love to see some longer fiction from Melanie Cheng in the future but I’ll happily accept anything and everything she writes. A fantastic talent who has nailed the art of the short story.’
Sam Still Reading
‘Wonderful.’
Christos Tsiolkas, Sydney Morning Herald’s Year in Reading
February 26, 2019
4.5★s
Australia Day is a collection of fourteen short stories by Australian author, Melanie Cheng. It won the 2018 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction.
In Australia Day, now-naturalised Australian, Stanley Chu spends Australia Day in the country property with the family of fellow med student, Jessica Cook, with whom he is hoping for more than friendship. Jessica’s family, though, is still enamoured with her ex, Eddie Mitchell: a good looking, white Anglo-Saxon who is universally loved.
In Big Problems, London-born Leila Ayers, on vacation from her Melbourne au-pair position, encounters a variety of attitudes to race and indigenous culture from different nationalities during her Red Centre bus tour, and chooses when to reveal her own Syrian heritage.
In Macca, GP Emily Garrett, against the advice of the practice’s senior partner, finds herself unable to maintain distance from an alcoholic patient.
In Clear Blue Seas, on her honeymoon in the Maldives with Raf, her now-rich, Iraqi-refugee husband, Kat is increasingly troubled by the yawning divide between the haves and the have-nots.
In Ticket Holder Number Five, motor registry counter worker Tania allows her usual impregnable façade to crack in the face of a tale of tragedy and heartache.
In Hotel Cambodia, NGO volunteer Melissa spends Sundays away from the pressures of third world nursing. She relaxes by the pool at Hotel Cambodia.
In Things That Grow, newly widowed Cora finds herself opting out of daily life until she suddenly discovers something to live for.
In Fracture, Tony’s dissatisfaction with his orthopaedic surgeon, an Indian, spurs his grandson, Luca into action.
In Toy Town, Maha and her daughter, Amani encounter Nicole and little Charlotte at the play centre. The mothers connect over the food they bring.
In Doughnuts, events in social worker Barry’s day send him to visit his father in his aged care facility.
In Allomother, her efforts for the weekly day out with the girl she carried for nine months far exceed those of the natural parents, but she gratefully accepts the crumbs of the girl’s company.
In White Sparrow, Bec raises her son Oliver alone. His port-wine birthmark was more than Tom could cope with.
In Muse, widower Evan has a prickly relationship with his daughter, Bea. Her partner, Edwina connects more easily, even encouraging him to return to his art.
In A Good and Pleasant Thing, old Mrs Chan acutely feels the difference between her Hong Kong life and living in Melbourne, and loneliness is only part of it.
Cheng’s stories are perceptive, insightful, sometimes disturbing, often heart-warming. She touches on a myriad of topics including attitudes to race, culture, patriotism, multiculturalism, grief, compassion overload, surrogacy and isolation. Of the fourteen, Allomother, White Sparrow, Muse, Macca, Things That Grow, Toy Town and Doughnuts are outstanding.
Australia Day is a collection of fourteen short stories by Australian author, Melanie Cheng. It won the 2018 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction.
In Australia Day, now-naturalised Australian, Stanley Chu spends Australia Day in the country property with the family of fellow med student, Jessica Cook, with whom he is hoping for more than friendship. Jessica’s family, though, is still enamoured with her ex, Eddie Mitchell: a good looking, white Anglo-Saxon who is universally loved.
In Big Problems, London-born Leila Ayers, on vacation from her Melbourne au-pair position, encounters a variety of attitudes to race and indigenous culture from different nationalities during her Red Centre bus tour, and chooses when to reveal her own Syrian heritage.
In Macca, GP Emily Garrett, against the advice of the practice’s senior partner, finds herself unable to maintain distance from an alcoholic patient.
In Clear Blue Seas, on her honeymoon in the Maldives with Raf, her now-rich, Iraqi-refugee husband, Kat is increasingly troubled by the yawning divide between the haves and the have-nots.
In Ticket Holder Number Five, motor registry counter worker Tania allows her usual impregnable façade to crack in the face of a tale of tragedy and heartache.
In Hotel Cambodia, NGO volunteer Melissa spends Sundays away from the pressures of third world nursing. She relaxes by the pool at Hotel Cambodia.
In Things That Grow, newly widowed Cora finds herself opting out of daily life until she suddenly discovers something to live for.
In Fracture, Tony’s dissatisfaction with his orthopaedic surgeon, an Indian, spurs his grandson, Luca into action.
In Toy Town, Maha and her daughter, Amani encounter Nicole and little Charlotte at the play centre. The mothers connect over the food they bring.
In Doughnuts, events in social worker Barry’s day send him to visit his father in his aged care facility.
In Allomother, her efforts for the weekly day out with the girl she carried for nine months far exceed those of the natural parents, but she gratefully accepts the crumbs of the girl’s company.
In White Sparrow, Bec raises her son Oliver alone. His port-wine birthmark was more than Tom could cope with.
In Muse, widower Evan has a prickly relationship with his daughter, Bea. Her partner, Edwina connects more easily, even encouraging him to return to his art.
In A Good and Pleasant Thing, old Mrs Chan acutely feels the difference between her Hong Kong life and living in Melbourne, and loneliness is only part of it.
Cheng’s stories are perceptive, insightful, sometimes disturbing, often heart-warming. She touches on a myriad of topics including attitudes to race, culture, patriotism, multiculturalism, grief, compassion overload, surrogacy and isolation. Of the fourteen, Allomother, White Sparrow, Muse, Macca, Things That Grow, Toy Town and Doughnuts are outstanding.
January 31, 2021
My full review of Australia Day is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
All of Cheng’s characters are seeking something elusive, at times ineffable, and there are few happy endings. Some of the stories – ‘Ticket Holder Number 5’ in particular – offer the clang of revelation that I look for in short stories. Others fell a bit… well, short. Still others were perhaps ahead of their time; ‘Big Problems’ struck me as a precursor to novels like Kiley Reid’s Such A Fun Age. So, as with any short story collection, I’d say that this one is hit and miss. Some are great, some are okay, and each reader will probably have their own opinion as to which is which.
All of Cheng’s characters are seeking something elusive, at times ineffable, and there are few happy endings. Some of the stories – ‘Ticket Holder Number 5’ in particular – offer the clang of revelation that I look for in short stories. Others fell a bit… well, short. Still others were perhaps ahead of their time; ‘Big Problems’ struck me as a precursor to novels like Kiley Reid’s Such A Fun Age. So, as with any short story collection, I’d say that this one is hit and miss. Some are great, some are okay, and each reader will probably have their own opinion as to which is which.
June 10, 2017
This short story collection has blown me away. Cheng sketches her characters in ways that make them feel real and vital. This is exactly the kind of Australian fiction I get very excited about - a perspective on contemporary Australia that is new and nuanced and like nothing I have read before. More please.
August 1, 2017
This is a thought provoking collection of short stories that places snapshots of Australia, and some of the vast array of people that call it home, under the microscope. While cleverly drawing attention to many issues it does not pass judgement but does make you reflect on how we all coexist within and beyond our diversity. I really enjoyed this book and the great skills of observation that Melanie Cheng carefully places on the page. Thanks to Text Publishing and Goodreads for my copy.
July 9, 2017
A promising debut collection, from an interesting new voice in Australian fiction. Cheng writes about racial issues in Australia well and is part of a (hopefully growing) diversification of Australian literature.
January 18, 2020
This was a really good collection of short stories that very accurately describe life in modern-day Australia. EXCEPT, why were there no stories including First Nations people?!? This seems to be a glaring omission, especially with that title!! This is a book about the first immigrants to Australia (white Australians) and more recent immigrants to Australia.
At first the stories felt a bit shallow and I wanted more, I wanted the author to say something about the social interactions she was describing, I wanted her to pick a team and say something prickly, make a stand.
But I kept reading and found myself surprisingly enjoying the book more and more with every passing story. The author tells stories about the majority of Australian life, and her purpose seems to be to tell those stories, not to comment on them, and I found I was good with that.
The stories were really spot on. But the First Nations people reality should have been included in my opinion.
At first the stories felt a bit shallow and I wanted more, I wanted the author to say something about the social interactions she was describing, I wanted her to pick a team and say something prickly, make a stand.
But I kept reading and found myself surprisingly enjoying the book more and more with every passing story. The author tells stories about the majority of Australian life, and her purpose seems to be to tell those stories, not to comment on them, and I found I was good with that.
The stories were really spot on. But the First Nations people reality should have been included in my opinion.
January 28, 2018
Melanie Chung's stories deconstruct the rhetoric of its epigraph: "There has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian". Her stories reveal an Australia of casual racism, of failures of compassion by those who work with people who are ill or marginalised. She shows a darker side of kindness as quotes from two stories illustrate:
"Leila presumed the Kellys had chosen her, with her Syrian background, as a means of alleviating some of this guilt." (Big Problems)
"But as she described her despair , Melissa heard something disturbing in her own voice - a childlike fascination or delight that came dangerously close to excitement. As if she were practising the tales she would tell her friends at the pub once she got back home to Australia." (Hotel Cambodia)
This would suggest that all these stories are negative but Cheng has too clear a vision for that. She sees tolerance and consideration too and the consolations of family and community. A doctor herself, she touches on issues of illness, pregnancy, hospitalisation and even surrogacy (in the brilliant story 'Allomother'). She develops her characters deftly in these stories, especially in the much longer 'Muse' about an elderly widower who seeks comfort in his art but finds redemption in unexpected places.
Cheng sets most of her stories in her home town of Melbourne. She offers a mirror that reflects today's Australian cities and the people who live in them. Highly recommended.
"Leila presumed the Kellys had chosen her, with her Syrian background, as a means of alleviating some of this guilt." (Big Problems)
"But as she described her despair , Melissa heard something disturbing in her own voice - a childlike fascination or delight that came dangerously close to excitement. As if she were practising the tales she would tell her friends at the pub once she got back home to Australia." (Hotel Cambodia)
This would suggest that all these stories are negative but Cheng has too clear a vision for that. She sees tolerance and consideration too and the consolations of family and community. A doctor herself, she touches on issues of illness, pregnancy, hospitalisation and even surrogacy (in the brilliant story 'Allomother'). She develops her characters deftly in these stories, especially in the much longer 'Muse' about an elderly widower who seeks comfort in his art but finds redemption in unexpected places.
Cheng sets most of her stories in her home town of Melbourne. She offers a mirror that reflects today's Australian cities and the people who live in them. Highly recommended.
August 16, 2017
Having just read Norwegian by Night this book was a slight let down for me. I realise this is totally unfair to the author but it does happen. You read what you think is a brilliant book, the quality of the writing outstanding, and the next book you read falls a bit flat. Unfortunately I think this is what happened with me and Australia Day. I do think Melanie Cheng has talent and I will definitely read something else of hers. There was an honesty and realism to most of the stories and if you aren’t Australian it will give you a reasonable insight into Australian culture, especially that of living in one of the larger ‘multicultural’ cities. Short stories can always be a bit hit and miss, with 14 stories working out to an average of 15-20 pages each, I felt most of the themes and characters were under-developed. The author is also a doctor so it’s understandable that health and medical issues would be over-represented. I look forward to Melanie Cheng expanding her repertoire.
July 9, 2017
A distinctive voice and a varied collection. Standouts were 'Fracture', 'Muse' and 'A Good and Pleasant Thing', where the writing was on song and the stories striking. Other snippets felt short, surprisingly so, as sentences ceased and immersion ended with a suddenness that startled.
April 13, 2020
I didn't want to run out of stories in this incredible collection by Melanie Cheng. After starting and being blown away by how unexpectedly brilliant the stories were and how much they resonated with me, I found myself wanting to devour it so quickly but still savour every story. Savour won out and this is why I have drawn it out over almost two months.
Every single story is amazing. Usually there are always at least a couple of less than stellar stories in a collection, so it was a surprise that every story is a 5 star story. I cried out "Oh my gosh I love this story" on multiple occasions, and I got the good tingles and opening up of my heart with gladness for so many of them.
I loved the normal, mundane vignettes of life and how the writing held back just that tiny bit to let you read between the lines. I loved that life still goes on after the stories but that at the end you can identify with something in the character.
I can't even say what my favourite story is. I just know I'm going to read this collection again and again. Melanie Cheng has recently released a novel and I really hope it is as great as this book, because my expectations have been set really high now.
Every single story is amazing. Usually there are always at least a couple of less than stellar stories in a collection, so it was a surprise that every story is a 5 star story. I cried out "Oh my gosh I love this story" on multiple occasions, and I got the good tingles and opening up of my heart with gladness for so many of them.
I loved the normal, mundane vignettes of life and how the writing held back just that tiny bit to let you read between the lines. I loved that life still goes on after the stories but that at the end you can identify with something in the character.
I can't even say what my favourite story is. I just know I'm going to read this collection again and again. Melanie Cheng has recently released a novel and I really hope it is as great as this book, because my expectations have been set really high now.
April 27, 2019
I have a bit of a complicated relationships with short story collections, but I really enjoyed this one from the get go. I think there was only the one story I didn't really like, but otherwise they were all enjoyable little reads.
June 4, 2018
What I really liked about these stories was the authenticity and subtle nuances within each of the characters. We all know people like them. Hell, we’re all like them.
September 6, 2022
I'm so conflicted over this collection.
I took some time to get into the grove of these abrupt endings, and I found myself prefering the two longer stories over the rest of the collection of shorter stories. I think the stories managed to convey the array of different people living in Australia, from immigrants to locals, and all of their struggles, but I might be wrong or missing something, but I'm pretty sure there wasn't a story from an aboriginal POV?
Any way, the collection of different struggles of immigrants were realistic, and the writing style was good. I just took a long time to get into it.
brief opinions about each story:
- Australia Day: Teenage love amid celebrating Australia Day and preparing for a citizenship exam. felt pointless and cut short
- Big Problems: A Syrian-English au pair working in Melbourne goes on a trip to visit Uluru, and encounters tourists from different places, and makes her question her identity
- Macca: a story of social workers and homelessnes. I think it's the first story I liked so far
- Clear Blue Seas: a newly married couple on their honeymoon to the maldives, and the differences between them are too great for the wife. I don't really get the fading-away ending of the stories
- Ticket Holder Number 5: women under stress and the flickering feeling of working with hordes of people everyday. really liked this one
- Hotel Cambodia: Yes, give me that expat guilt mixed with fascination. I really liked this one about a nurse who leaves Australia to do "some good" in Cambodia.
- Things That Grow: about grief and motherhood and fungus in the bathroom. I'm not really attached to motherhood stories, so this one did nothing for me
- Fracture: This one felt like a proper film and it's the longest story so far. We've got drama, immigrant families, death, inferiority complex
- Toy Town: a snapshot of an immigrant Lebanese mother's life in Australia. It's okay, but a good contrast of the pros and cons of leaving a country behind
- Doughnuts: a story like this makes me realize again and again how hard and heartbreaking the work of a social worker is
- Allomother: I liked this one about a surrogate mother and her relationship with the child. Also the inclusion of animal facts and the parallels were good
- White Sparrow: This is a sad story about deformity and family. I felt for the kid.
- Muse: What a story! A moving family story with enough heart in it. I think this is my favorite in the collection
- A Good and Pleasent Thing: Chinese immigrants in Australia, and another story from an older character: this time the old grandmother.
I took some time to get into the grove of these abrupt endings, and I found myself prefering the two longer stories over the rest of the collection of shorter stories. I think the stories managed to convey the array of different people living in Australia, from immigrants to locals, and all of their struggles, but I might be wrong or missing something, but I'm pretty sure there wasn't a story from an aboriginal POV?
Any way, the collection of different struggles of immigrants were realistic, and the writing style was good. I just took a long time to get into it.
brief opinions about each story:
- Australia Day: Teenage love amid celebrating Australia Day and preparing for a citizenship exam. felt pointless and cut short
- Big Problems: A Syrian-English au pair working in Melbourne goes on a trip to visit Uluru, and encounters tourists from different places, and makes her question her identity
- Macca: a story of social workers and homelessnes. I think it's the first story I liked so far
- Clear Blue Seas: a newly married couple on their honeymoon to the maldives, and the differences between them are too great for the wife. I don't really get the fading-away ending of the stories
- Ticket Holder Number 5: women under stress and the flickering feeling of working with hordes of people everyday. really liked this one
- Hotel Cambodia: Yes, give me that expat guilt mixed with fascination. I really liked this one about a nurse who leaves Australia to do "some good" in Cambodia.
- Things That Grow: about grief and motherhood and fungus in the bathroom. I'm not really attached to motherhood stories, so this one did nothing for me
- Fracture: This one felt like a proper film and it's the longest story so far. We've got drama, immigrant families, death, inferiority complex
- Toy Town: a snapshot of an immigrant Lebanese mother's life in Australia. It's okay, but a good contrast of the pros and cons of leaving a country behind
- Doughnuts: a story like this makes me realize again and again how hard and heartbreaking the work of a social worker is
- Allomother: I liked this one about a surrogate mother and her relationship with the child. Also the inclusion of animal facts and the parallels were good
- White Sparrow: This is a sad story about deformity and family. I felt for the kid.
- Muse: What a story! A moving family story with enough heart in it. I think this is my favorite in the collection
- A Good and Pleasent Thing: Chinese immigrants in Australia, and another story from an older character: this time the old grandmother.
August 27, 2017
This is a book - and a talent- we very much need. It adds up to more than a collection of short stories. It is more like a huge Breughel canvas with the lives of a community playing out in endless interaction. Cheng consistently captures motivation, understands fear, longing, need, failure and acts of redemption.
What makes the collection so remarkable is that these understandings are applied to glimpses of lives across such a variety of ages, ethnicities and genders. Her observation in both clinical and empathetic, forcing the reader to connect the dots of some pretty basic shared psychology. It isn't always a pretty picture - but it's pretty consistent.
In an odd way it is reminiscent of Ruth Park - grounded in solid, memorable strugglers. Her break-through achievement, however, is in using the short story format to create a very big picture teeming with life that is both diverse and consistent.
What makes the collection so remarkable is that these understandings are applied to glimpses of lives across such a variety of ages, ethnicities and genders. Her observation in both clinical and empathetic, forcing the reader to connect the dots of some pretty basic shared psychology. It isn't always a pretty picture - but it's pretty consistent.
In an odd way it is reminiscent of Ruth Park - grounded in solid, memorable strugglers. Her break-through achievement, however, is in using the short story format to create a very big picture teeming with life that is both diverse and consistent.
July 16, 2017
4.5 stars. I won this anthology of short stories in a Goodreads giveaway thanks to the generosity of the publishers.
The writing is engaging and the book's strength is in its diverse characters going about their daily lives. These stories, although not always the greatest, are great in their portrayal of everyday Aussies in the best, and worst, times of their lives.
Most stories are short and sweet, leaving the reader wanting more, but happy enough to move onto the next course.
Definitely recommended reading.
The writing is engaging and the book's strength is in its diverse characters going about their daily lives. These stories, although not always the greatest, are great in their portrayal of everyday Aussies in the best, and worst, times of their lives.
Most stories are short and sweet, leaving the reader wanting more, but happy enough to move onto the next course.
Definitely recommended reading.
September 6, 2017
I love disappearing into a novel and staying there for as long as I dare. However, short stories have their place! For quick visits into bookland, this is a satisfying trip. More contemporary Aussie short stories - but with that multi-cultural difference. Well Done!
February 5, 2018
Focusing strongly on themes of identity, power balance and what it means to ‘belong’, Melanie Cheng’s collection, Australia Day, provides snapshots of Australian suburban life from a variety of perspectives.
Cheng manages to deliver some powerful blows that caught me unaware. I stress the ‘caught unaware’ bit because that’s what happens with casual racism, isn’t it? You’re having a perfectly ordinary conversation with someone and they slip in something that is absolutely not right, and it catches you unaware. You’re thinking ‘Hang on…’, and you turn the comment over and over in your mind, ‘to be sure’, but from every angle it’s racist. And the conversation has moved on but you’re left with a bad taste and you wish you’d said something in the moment. And that’s how casual racism stays alive. And grows. And Cheng gently reminds us of that in her stories that examine life from the perspective of various cultural backgrounds –
She shows them how to operate the air conditioning before shuffling backwards to the door. Somehow, during this brief deferential dance, Raf slips Sukhon a tip. Kat is both impressed and a little revolted. (Clear Blue Skies)
But as she described her despair , Melissa heard something disturbing in her own voice – a childlike fascination or delight that came dangerously close to excitement. As if she were practising the tales she would tell her friends at the pub once she got back home to Australia. (Hotel Cambodia)
I loved the references to Melbourne, and Cheng’s attention to detail, which firmly embedded her stories in suburbia –
Barry heated up a Lite n’Easy meal in the microwave and turned on the television. He watched MasterChef, which only made his food even less appetising than it already was. (Doughnuts)
3/5 A cohesive and thoughtful collection.
Cheng manages to deliver some powerful blows that caught me unaware. I stress the ‘caught unaware’ bit because that’s what happens with casual racism, isn’t it? You’re having a perfectly ordinary conversation with someone and they slip in something that is absolutely not right, and it catches you unaware. You’re thinking ‘Hang on…’, and you turn the comment over and over in your mind, ‘to be sure’, but from every angle it’s racist. And the conversation has moved on but you’re left with a bad taste and you wish you’d said something in the moment. And that’s how casual racism stays alive. And grows. And Cheng gently reminds us of that in her stories that examine life from the perspective of various cultural backgrounds –
She shows them how to operate the air conditioning before shuffling backwards to the door. Somehow, during this brief deferential dance, Raf slips Sukhon a tip. Kat is both impressed and a little revolted. (Clear Blue Skies)
But as she described her despair , Melissa heard something disturbing in her own voice – a childlike fascination or delight that came dangerously close to excitement. As if she were practising the tales she would tell her friends at the pub once she got back home to Australia. (Hotel Cambodia)
I loved the references to Melbourne, and Cheng’s attention to detail, which firmly embedded her stories in suburbia –
Barry heated up a Lite n’Easy meal in the microwave and turned on the television. He watched MasterChef, which only made his food even less appetising than it already was. (Doughnuts)
3/5 A cohesive and thoughtful collection.
February 5, 2018
A couple of stories in this hit high highs – Ticket-holder number 5 was exquisite, floating lightly and packing a punch. Fracture takes you on a journey of complexity, with tension that holds and a growing dread that pays off memorably. Doughnuts and Allomother were also standouts for me – but many felt like near misses. I liked it, but I couldn’t quite love it, there was something out of place. The earnestness with which a point was being made sometimes felt that it distorted the narrative, I could see the strings of author intent holding characters awkwardly in place. Not always a political point – even in Muse, the dysfunction of the character felt laboured, the story too keen to get us to a place of meaning; just as the Hotel California, Australia Day and Toy Town all felt burdened by a weight of explaining a series of characters experiences and viewpoints. Cheng remains a talent to watch, and I hope I’ll find her future work slightly more even.
April 3, 2019
3,5 stars.
Reading this short stories collection was like spying on people in their windows - stories haven’t the beginnings and the ends really, just show some pictures of Australian life. And I do like this approach. What stopping me from enjoying it more is the unevenness of these stories. Not all of them were delightful to me. But I do adore Australia Day, Ticket-holder Number 5, Muse and A Good and Pleasant Thing.
Reading this short stories collection was like spying on people in their windows - stories haven’t the beginnings and the ends really, just show some pictures of Australian life. And I do like this approach. What stopping me from enjoying it more is the unevenness of these stories. Not all of them were delightful to me. But I do adore Australia Day, Ticket-holder Number 5, Muse and A Good and Pleasant Thing.
December 20, 2017
Beautiful.... so pleased after reading the terrible short stories in Tsiolkas’ Merciless Gods this book was a breath of fresh air. Simply told stories about memorable and rich characters. The art of short story telling is a rare gift and this author has it in spades... can’t wait to read more of her work!
August 23, 2025
I can't believe how I somehow missed Melanie Cheng. Love her. I loved all of these stories and felt sad when the book was over. I love the diverse characters and viewpoints, all written with so much empathy.
September 29, 2017
Won this book from Text publishing.
Once I started I could not put this book down. It's an amazing skill for a writer to be able to craft such fully formed characters, and Melanie Chang has done just that in this short story collection. Each story got better as I read on.
Once I started I could not put this book down. It's an amazing skill for a writer to be able to craft such fully formed characters, and Melanie Chang has done just that in this short story collection. Each story got better as I read on.
October 24, 2022
Neat collection of short stories but just not my fave
March 7, 2023
3.5 stars
I liked Fracture best. My other likes were A Good and Pleasant Thing, Toy Town, Macca and White Sparrow.
I liked Fracture best. My other likes were A Good and Pleasant Thing, Toy Town, Macca and White Sparrow.
April 7, 2023
We had to read this for school, and it was alright, however did get a bit boring.
August 5, 2017
In this nuanced and emotive snapshot of contemporary Australian culture, Melanie Cheng’s debut collection of short stories handles complex social issues of race, class, gender and xenophobia in an unpretentious and relatable way. Recommended reading for all Australians and those wanting an insight into our humanity as a society.
Winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript 2016.
5/5 – reviewed by Carielyn @printfestation
Winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript 2016.
5/5 – reviewed by Carielyn @printfestation
June 22, 2023
3.5 stars, not life-changing or genre-defining, but a nice read-- pleasantly enjoyable.
March 10, 2022
DNF at 69 pages
I tried to keep going with this but the stories I read lacked depth and were forgettable. I just avoided picking it up.
I tried to keep going with this but the stories I read lacked depth and were forgettable. I just avoided picking it up.
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