Plane Tree Drive

by Lynette Washington

Jennifer lives shrouded in secrets on Plane Tree Drive, stuck in regret that is destroying her marriage. Alice watches on as her husband finally gives up his addictions – and his family in the process. Faraj, haunted by memories from Afghanistan, slips into homelessness yet again. Meanwhile, Maurice rediscovers his mojo and brings the whole of the Drive together at his backyard gigs.

Peer through the windows and doors on Plane Tree Drive to find a streetscape that is diverse, heartbreaking, funny and strange, where the loneliness of domestic isolation and the joy of connection weave together to form an interlaced map of suburban life.

Genres: Short Stories

264 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2017

About the author

Lynette Washington is a short story writer, editor and teacher of creative and professional writing. From 2014 to 2017 she was the Editor and Submissions Editor at MidnightSun Publishing. When she is not writing, she teaches police cadets the importance of sentence structure. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide. She has been a panellist at the Australian Short Story Festival (2016 & 2017), Salisbury Writers’ Festival (2017) and Festival Fleurieu (2015 & 2017).

Her stories have been published widely and in 2014 she edited the story collection, Breaking Beauty. In 2017 she co-edited the story collection, Crush. Plane Tree Drive, her debut, was published in 2017 and was Highly Commended in the 2018 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award.

Reviews

[Monique Mulligan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This excellent collection of interconnected short stories featuring the residents of Plane Tree Drive is a short but compelling read, with the reader a fly-on-the-wall in the lives and houses of the many characters. Some stories are startling, others poignant and tender, but all are painted with vivid description and the keen insight that comes from being a people watcher. Lynette has a talent for voice, turning from playful to serious and introspective in the turning of a page, revealing not only terrific writing, but a sense of community and connected-ness that draws the stories together. I enjoyed this and look forward to more from Lynette - she's a talent to watch for.

[Ruth Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suburban short stories aren't normally my scene, but I loved this. Great tone, great characters, constantly intriguing. Sometimes poignant. Sometimes funny. Always wonderful.

[Kristin Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plane Tree drive by Lynette Washington is a masterpiece. Each of the over 50 finely crafted stories stands on its own, with interesting, varied characters that draw you into their lives, at times making you laugh, at other times making you cry. But together the stories make a satisfying whole, with various characters and relationships developing over the course of the book.

To me, Plane Tree Drive is the tale of a developing community, brought together not just through their address, and their intersecting lives, but through Maurice, a likeable, ageing muso.

I read this book over 2 days, and for days after I missed it intensely. I missed the characters being with me in my head, and I missed the act of reading the stories.

I am looking forward to reading Plane Tree Drive again.

[Nicola McGunnigle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Lynette brings the quirkiness and reality of each character to life in this collection of short stories, each set in and around life on Plane Tree Drive. It is the clawing rawness of everyday life and the honesty in each character that makes it a compelling read and so very hard to put down. Although some characters you meet only once, others come and go, and Lynette cleverly weaves the reader into their lives, usually the parts that none of us would consider sharing with our friends and neighbourhood. Plane Tree Drive will have you pulled to and fro between the highs and lows of humanness. A tantalizing read.

[Curious Reeds · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review online: http://daniel-young.com/reviews/revie...

[D.M. Cameron]

Exquisite little collection of short stories which contains some beautiful writing. Highly recommend (please note - I don't partake in star ratings).

[David Fonteyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plane Tree Drive is a highly creative and original novel from someone who will likely become an important writer in Australia. Ostensibly a collection of vignettes, or micro-stories that depict a slice of life or detail about a character (or characters), the stories build to create an interrelated web of narrative linked by location: the neighbourhood of Plane Tree Drive. Through the vignette device, Washington explores multiple aspects of the inner world of middle class suburban Australian life, its disconnections and connections. The stories present poignant images of a large range of situations and life stories: lonely isolated people, families and children, marriage breakups, sexual desire, finding true love, outsiders such as refugees, and the possibilities of community and connection. They explore deeper, hidden aspects to suburban Australia, with its possibilities of the Good Life and the Good Life gone wrong, or just simply a myriad of lives and emotions and situations. Washington portrays a love for her characters, their hopes, desires, difficulties, joys and sadnesses. Ultimately, she seems to be exploring human connection and the possibilities of a meaningful life in the postmodern disjointed world of the Australian suburb. The novel's form, with its stand alone vignettes, yet interlinked over the whole through connections between characters, provides the means to portray both this disjointed nature of suburban life and the possibilities of relationship and community.

[Marian Matta · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exquisite collection of short stories that weave around the lives of the residents of Plane Tree Drive. Lynette Washington assuredly switches voice and style, as befits the different personalities she writes about, and yet everything hangs together as a cohesive whole. The characters' interaction are sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, but always very real.

[Anya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't know what this was supposed to be. I guess the blurb was accurate, but it ended up being just meh 😕 totally forgettable I interwoven stories with mostly depressing characters. It just wasn't for me.

[MiniMouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gentle, understanding, perceptive, challenging, unexpected. Marvelous collection of interconnected stories. Some are amusing, some heartbreaking.