Bearded Ladies

by Kate Grenville

Thirteen stories deal with a lone traveler, a brief affair, an elderly spinster, a betrayed wife, a favorite aunt, a reunion of former roommates, and a woman's first meeting with her potential mother-in-law

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, 20th Century, Womens, Australia

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Kate Grenville is one of Australia's best-known authors. She's published eight books of fiction and four books about the writing process. Her best-known works are the international best-seller The Secret River, The Idea of Perfection, The Lieutenant and Lilian's Story (details about all Kate Grenville's books are elsewhere on this site). Her novels have won many awards both in Australia and the UK, several have been made into major feature films, and all have been translated into European and Asian languages.

Reviews

[Meg]

Does it make sense to say that I do not have the attention span at the moment for short stories?

[Lee McKerracher]

I'm a big Kate Grenville fan and was excited to be reading the first book she published, Bearded Ladies. It's a series of short stories focused on women and the challenging situations they can find themselves in.

Grenville explores the influence of power, gender, the sense of place and belonging, relationships and what a sense of identity means to these women and when and where they are living.

Every story is a delight and the exploration of what it is to be a woman is insightful and conducive to a lot of self-reflection.

Highly recommended.