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Vertigo: A Novella
Luke and Anna, thirty-something and restless, decide on a sea change. Worn down by city life and wounded by a loss neither can talk about, they flee to a sleepy village by the coast. There, surrounded by nature, they begin to feel rejuvenated. But when bushfire threatens their new home, they must confront what they have tried to put behind them. Vertigo is a fable of love and awakening by one of Australia's finest writers, about the unexpected way emotions can return and life can change.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
39 people are currently reading
274 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Lohrey
27 books122 followersAmanda Lohrey is a novelist and essayist. She was educated at the University of Tasmania and Cambridge. She lectured in Writing and Textual Studies at the Sydney University of Technology (1988-1994), and since 2002 at the School of English, Media Studies and Art History at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
March 23, 2022
This was my second Amanda Lohrey novel; the first was The Labyrinth—an excellent book! Lohrey's writing is wonderfully atmospheric, and especially evident in Vertigo—one of her earlier books.
The way she so beautifully describes the natural features of the landscape surrounding their clapboard home in tiny Garra Nalla, on the coast of New South Wales. And the weather... all so evocative it could place you right there, in the story! The endless winds. The billowing smoke. Ahh! It was perhaps the most atmospheric novel I've read! It put a smile on my face that stayed the whole way through.😊 It seemed like my first real visit to Australia—simply wonderful.
4 stars
The way she so beautifully describes the natural features of the landscape surrounding their clapboard home in tiny Garra Nalla, on the coast of New South Wales. And the weather... all so evocative it could place you right there, in the story! The endless winds. The billowing smoke. Ahh! It was perhaps the most atmospheric novel I've read! It put a smile on my face that stayed the whole way through.😊 It seemed like my first real visit to Australia—simply wonderful.
4 stars
May 10, 2022
2,5*
Life is so unpredictable: one cannot postpone decisions forever in the belief that things will be better down the track. What if, one day, there is no track?
Uma história sem qualquer nuance sobre luto e incêndios florestais na Austrália. Um autêntico melodrama de domingo à tarde.
The hospital counsellor asked them if they wanted to give their child a name, and they nodded, blankly, and said yes, it would be a good idea. But in the numbness of their grief, no name presented itself and thereafter they had come to think of him as ‘the boy’. It seemed so much more intimate than any given name.
Life is so unpredictable: one cannot postpone decisions forever in the belief that things will be better down the track. What if, one day, there is no track?
Uma história sem qualquer nuance sobre luto e incêndios florestais na Austrália. Um autêntico melodrama de domingo à tarde.
The hospital counsellor asked them if they wanted to give their child a name, and they nodded, blankly, and said yes, it would be a good idea. But in the numbness of their grief, no name presented itself and thereafter they had come to think of him as ‘the boy’. It seemed so much more intimate than any given name.
March 2, 2022
A novella by an author I've been wanting to explore. Her book The Labyrinth won the top Australian book prize (The Miles Franklin --the list from last year I've been working my way thru at a snails' pace) and while I have yet to get to that book when I saw this free on Audible plus I thought it would be a good chance to see how I liked this author's writing.
I liked it very much. This is a novella yet I found myself fully invested in these characters very quickly. It is a current day story of a young couple who decide to leave city life and move out to a small settlement and what they learn about themselves and each other. I would say it is a quiet story at first but also for just a little over 2 hours on audio has more than enough drama to go along with the character and geography development. It was definitely easy on the ears and I was drawn to listening to it, finishing it in most of one afternoon. I will certainly be reporting back on another of this author's books soon.
I liked it very much. This is a novella yet I found myself fully invested in these characters very quickly. It is a current day story of a young couple who decide to leave city life and move out to a small settlement and what they learn about themselves and each other. I would say it is a quiet story at first but also for just a little over 2 hours on audio has more than enough drama to go along with the character and geography development. It was definitely easy on the ears and I was drawn to listening to it, finishing it in most of one afternoon. I will certainly be reporting back on another of this author's books soon.
January 17, 2016
I read the first paragraph - a straight forward, yet evocative one - and immediately had to read the book. I was appalled to discover that neither of my local libraries had a copy. It was Christmas Eve and I had my Mum staying so I bought the book online and read it on my laptop over the public holidays. (It should have gone to my iphone but that’s another story). Needless to say with all the hu ha I may have been setting myself up for disappointment. Luckily I wasn’t. Lohrey has definitely delivered with Vertigo.
Straight away I got the sense of the couple’s inner city lives - the cramped quarters, the stress, the disappointment and then they find their house on the coast. Lohrey moves effortlessly between the points of view between Luke and Anna. Of course there is another factor to their relationship that is gently hinted at and I love the way the author handles this.
In their new/old house they gradually become attuned to the environment, the locals and the way of living so different from the city they have left behind. Luke adapts quickly whereas Anna struggles. After a visit back to the city, Anna is torn: “Damn Luke, damn his stupid ideas. All he has succeeded in doing is creating a situation where she doesn’t feel at home anywhere. Now she belongs in neither place like some migratory bird that has lost its bearings.”
Of course with the wind and the drought the inevitable happens and this is where all of Lohrey’s skill as a writer come into play. Some scenes, I won’t repeat here are simply told but subtly compelling. Some reviewers have mentioned the distance they felt from the characters. Yes, the characters are a little distant but there is a reason for this and you’ll have to read Vertigo to find out. Highly recommended.
Straight away I got the sense of the couple’s inner city lives - the cramped quarters, the stress, the disappointment and then they find their house on the coast. Lohrey moves effortlessly between the points of view between Luke and Anna. Of course there is another factor to their relationship that is gently hinted at and I love the way the author handles this.
In their new/old house they gradually become attuned to the environment, the locals and the way of living so different from the city they have left behind. Luke adapts quickly whereas Anna struggles. After a visit back to the city, Anna is torn: “Damn Luke, damn his stupid ideas. All he has succeeded in doing is creating a situation where she doesn’t feel at home anywhere. Now she belongs in neither place like some migratory bird that has lost its bearings.”
Of course with the wind and the drought the inevitable happens and this is where all of Lohrey’s skill as a writer come into play. Some scenes, I won’t repeat here are simply told but subtly compelling. Some reviewers have mentioned the distance they felt from the characters. Yes, the characters are a little distant but there is a reason for this and you’ll have to read Vertigo to find out. Highly recommended.
June 24, 2018
Certainly fluent; some wonderful description of nature; to me felt rather mannered and like it had been worked over by editors and creative writing teachers for ever which I guess produces a certain effect -poetic - and I can see how it is a sensitive treatment of grief. However, to me the book distanced me - I never quite felt the odd shapes of humanity - perhaps I wanted another, more ragged book. The description of the bushfire is gripping. A quick, poetic read that has some resonance
January 12, 2023
Why are dead birds always used as a symbolic trope :(
November 4, 2021
#NovNov Novellas Reading Challenge 1-30 November
hosted by @Cathy746
and @bookishbeck
I read "Vertigo" (Amanda Lohrey) gem from Tasmania, Australia!
This book is also for #AusReadingMonth2021 (1-30 November)hosted by @Bronasbooks
Cup of coffee...some chocolate and enjoy this novella in a
a short afternoon sit in your reading chair!
My Thoughts
hosted by @Cathy746
and @bookishbeck
I read "Vertigo" (Amanda Lohrey) gem from Tasmania, Australia!
This book is also for #AusReadingMonth2021 (1-30 November)hosted by @Bronasbooks
Cup of coffee...some chocolate and enjoy this novella in a
a short afternoon sit in your reading chair!
My Thoughts
July 30, 2021
only gave it a low reading cs it’s my prescribed book for HSC Standard English.
Fuck the HSC bruh
No disrespect Amanda
Fuck the HSC bruh
No disrespect Amanda
December 28, 2025
I honestly cannot recall what enthralled me about this book to add it to my TBR. It was a perfectly nice novel about a sea / forest change but there was no spark, no emotion that drew me in.
It did however, thoroughly dissuade me from ever making the same choices as Anna and Luke. The move divided them and became a source of animosity that only grew, like the problems that arose for living in rural Australia. It also re-aligned my anxiety to perhaps acceptable levels - life is dangerous wherever you reside. Whether it is high crime rates in Melbourne or an auto plane crash, our problems are not dissimilar to those of a snake or bushfire; it does not change the reality of our fragility.
It did however, thoroughly dissuade me from ever making the same choices as Anna and Luke. The move divided them and became a source of animosity that only grew, like the problems that arose for living in rural Australia. It also re-aligned my anxiety to perhaps acceptable levels - life is dangerous wherever you reside. Whether it is high crime rates in Melbourne or an auto plane crash, our problems are not dissimilar to those of a snake or bushfire; it does not change the reality of our fragility.
January 1, 2025
A deeply moving novella that captures the cathartic impact that the Australian coastline has on our selves - interior and exterior - and on our relationships.
Lohrey manipulates the novella form to unravel the story backwards, so by the end the central subject is brought to light only once it is able to be processed by the central couple. I wish more was written on the central subject, especially in such a captivating way.
She captures the couple’s all consuming heartache and loss, describing it as a type of vertigo, with a paradoxical beauty and specificity. Lohrey’s atmospheric writing contrasts with the raw grief of the central subject perfectly to create a poignant reflection on how the Australian coastal landscape can captivate us, challenge us and ultimately heal us.
Lohrey manipulates the novella form to unravel the story backwards, so by the end the central subject is brought to light only once it is able to be processed by the central couple. I wish more was written on the central subject, especially in such a captivating way.
She captures the couple’s all consuming heartache and loss, describing it as a type of vertigo, with a paradoxical beauty and specificity. Lohrey’s atmospheric writing contrasts with the raw grief of the central subject perfectly to create a poignant reflection on how the Australian coastal landscape can captivate us, challenge us and ultimately heal us.
August 21, 2022
a short read that has pretty immaculate vibes. the first two thirds has a bit of a wordsworthian vibe. the direction it takes in the last third was a little unexpected but i didnt not enjoy it. overall, it was vv relaxing and enjoyable. the writing was nice, and the book had cool pics of nature!
November 30, 2024
It has been on my shelf for a while, and iI wish I had read it sooner. This short novel is beautiful. It holds you in the peace of the countryside and rocks you in the pain of grief and how differently we are each affected by loss. A beautiful Australian novel
September 17, 2019
Fabulous, a great quick read.
November 9, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
July 19, 2022
I read this novella almost in a single sitting . It is poetic, elegiac and engaging. It evokes the landscape with extraordinary power and the shades and nuances of relationships are brought to life in mesmerising ways.
October 7, 2023
made me cry a little
November 11, 2024
finished this ages ago but i went thru it again to properly invest myself and it was good, nothing explicitly resonated with me but i am a sucker for motifs
November 17, 2022
3.5
This book was surprisingly good. The storyline was quite bland, just a couple who moved hoping to find solace in a new town after the birth of their still-born child. But the beautiful writing from the author is what sold it.
'At that moment she falls into a spiral of panic; as if she is encountering a stranger. She finds she is looking at her husband in an almost impersonal way'... 'And the thought of this brings on a rush of vertigo, a dizzying sense of disorientation, as if she is about to fall, but when she falls she will be weightless. She has lost her roots, her anchorage to the Earth.'
The author's description of mental health is impressively accurate. Specifically memorable, is her above description of disassociation which the main character is feeling, which I believe is captured close to perfectly.
Overall, although this book doesn't have a very interesting storyline, I would recommend it simply for the writing which simply beautifully describes the human experience of trauma and grief.
This book was surprisingly good. The storyline was quite bland, just a couple who moved hoping to find solace in a new town after the birth of their still-born child. But the beautiful writing from the author is what sold it.
'At that moment she falls into a spiral of panic; as if she is encountering a stranger. She finds she is looking at her husband in an almost impersonal way'... 'And the thought of this brings on a rush of vertigo, a dizzying sense of disorientation, as if she is about to fall, but when she falls she will be weightless. She has lost her roots, her anchorage to the Earth.'
The author's description of mental health is impressively accurate. Specifically memorable, is her above description of disassociation which the main character is feeling, which I believe is captured close to perfectly.
Overall, although this book doesn't have a very interesting storyline, I would recommend it simply for the writing which simply beautifully describes the human experience of trauma and grief.
July 23, 2021
A most wonderful book
Oh what a treasure is Amanda Lohrey!
My second book by her.
I shall immediately find another one to read.
Seldom have I read with such pleasure about living life.
Congratulations on your well deserved price, Amanda.
Thank you for your stories.
Oh what a treasure is Amanda Lohrey!
My second book by her.
I shall immediately find another one to read.
Seldom have I read with such pleasure about living life.
Congratulations on your well deserved price, Amanda.
Thank you for your stories.
February 2, 2009
Bought this book at lunch time and had finished it by bed. Its a quick but charming story about 30 something couple that head outta the city for a seachange. Reminded me of winton and garner with simple vivid descriptions and the smell of australianess. Will be huntin down the rest of Lohreys stuff.
December 10, 2008
well crafted tale of a 'seachange' and an awakening to living in the bush environment with an interesting undercurrent of loss and redemption which is tenderly resolved.
January 20, 2020
Was often boring and talked about stuff I didn't care about, but it's good to analyse I guess. Entertaining? Not for me.
October 1, 2021
*falls asleep*
December 2, 2024
I had to read this for English. absolutely putrid. The whole book was too descriptive of things that didn't even matter, and it was sooooo anti climactic. Honestly Anna was just such a boring character who couldn't decide where she wanted to live while Luke was an oblivious idiot. THE BIRDS. TOOK ME OUT. The bird symbolism was so bad and boring like... although the book was only like 150 paged it felt like it took an eternity to finish. The book just follows the plot of a couple who are 'grieving' and don't even seem to have a connection as well as describing every nook and cranny for like four pages. The 'boy' was so predictable and nth abt this book was good tbh, I get it's meant to show them starting a home somewhere new but bc there was so much description abt small things u lost track of the actual point of the book. This book being the HSC course was the worst mistake ever. SO BORING AND DOSEN'T KEEP U INTERESTED. ANNA FUCK UR INDECISIVE ASS AND LUKE NOBODY CARES ABT UR BIRDS. DAMN. also if I have to hear my teacher read any longer im gonna start tweaking bruh. also the fire scene was so dramatic and stupid. this whole novella was straight up brain rot and so was my teachers voice.
December 22, 2024
I had to read this for English. absolutely putrid. The whole book was too descriptive of things that didn't even matter, and it was sooooo anti climactic. Honestly Anna was just such a boring character who couldn't decide where she wanted to live while Luke was an oblivious idiot. THE BIRDS.
TOOK ME OUT. The bird symbolism was so bad and boring like... although the book was only like 150 pages it felt like it took an eternity to finish. The book just follows the plot of a couple who are 'grieving' and don't even seem to have a connection as well as describing every nook and cranny for like four pages. The 'boy' was so predictable and nth abt this book was good tbh, I get it's meant to show them starting a home somewhere new but bc there was so much description abt small things u lost track of the actual point of the book.
This book being the HSC course was the worst mistake ever.
SO BORING AND DOSENT KEEP U INTERESTED. ANNA FUCK
UR INDECISIVE ASS AND LUKE NOBODY CARES ABT UR BIRDS. DAMN. also if I have to hear my teacher read any longer im gonna start tweaking bruh. also the fire scene was so dramatic and stupid. this whole novella was straight up brain rot and so was my teachers voice.
TOOK ME OUT. The bird symbolism was so bad and boring like... although the book was only like 150 pages it felt like it took an eternity to finish. The book just follows the plot of a couple who are 'grieving' and don't even seem to have a connection as well as describing every nook and cranny for like four pages. The 'boy' was so predictable and nth abt this book was good tbh, I get it's meant to show them starting a home somewhere new but bc there was so much description abt small things u lost track of the actual point of the book.
This book being the HSC course was the worst mistake ever.
SO BORING AND DOSENT KEEP U INTERESTED. ANNA FUCK
UR INDECISIVE ASS AND LUKE NOBODY CARES ABT UR BIRDS. DAMN. also if I have to hear my teacher read any longer im gonna start tweaking bruh. also the fire scene was so dramatic and stupid. this whole novella was straight up brain rot and so was my teachers voice.
November 26, 2023
Read in one sitting. A totally engaging novella of believable characters in a very contemporary Australian place. Though written in 2009 the issues the main characters dealt with are relatable now, including a bushfire scene that bought back images of scenes on TV last year. I read it in one sitting as suggested in the blurb and it didn't let me down. One star off because soon after a scene where the horizon is filled with smoke, power abruptly goes out but laptops are turned on for working at home and continue to be used for a long time, despite the fact they are the sole source of information, and the setting is a very small and remote seaside town. Maybe a bit fussy here but living in a high, but less isolated and remote, bushfire hazard zone myself it broke the flow and took me back into the real world ...
March 29, 2024
I did not like this book at all, it was so boring! I would never pick up something like this on my own but I had to read it for school so I gave it a chance but I just couldn’t get into it! I wish I could’ve DNFed but I have to write an essay on it 😐
Although this book was only 150 pages or so, it felt like much longer. It was written in third person and had barely any dialogue so it really felt like someone was just telling you a summary of something that happened, and I couldn’t really immerse myself in the story. I found that the plot was pretty predictable and there were too many descriptions of things that were kind of irrelevant to the story, like there was a whole paragraph where they were describing a bunch of different birds that the guy saw from their veranda.
Anyway, would not read anything like this again if I can avoid it 😂
Although this book was only 150 pages or so, it felt like much longer. It was written in third person and had barely any dialogue so it really felt like someone was just telling you a summary of something that happened, and I couldn’t really immerse myself in the story. I found that the plot was pretty predictable and there were too many descriptions of things that were kind of irrelevant to the story, like there was a whole paragraph where they were describing a bunch of different birds that the guy saw from their veranda.
Anyway, would not read anything like this again if I can avoid it 😂
June 11, 2017
A mature age, poignant ghost story set beside the sea on the south coast of NSW; a place of leaving behind and forgetting. Its slight novella size slips into the cracks of your own experience and because it is so elusively written that it becomes your story too. Everyone has experienced a loss, a need for change and questions how they would react to life’s great disasters. So restrained in its prose, that it does not make demands of you, but just wraps like a silk scarf around your mind so that only later do you realize that it has soothed and warmed and left a soft perfume of hope and renewal. A highly recommended bed time read.
August 18, 2020
echoing what the other reviewers have mentioned; this is a brisk and pleasant read which takes the characters to the precipice of loss and extracts poignancy without pushing into melodrama. You leave the novel feeling thankful, as if a crisp breeze wafted a brighter mood into your room, and it's just the right amount of relief needed from a larger pattern of monotony and unresolved tension.
That being said though it does still boggle me that this is prescribed for study for Y12s. I would think the reader needs at least a certain degree of world-weariness (or more specifically, Sydney-weariness) to get the full effect.
That being said though it does still boggle me that this is prescribed for study for Y12s. I would think the reader needs at least a certain degree of world-weariness (or more specifically, Sydney-weariness) to get the full effect.
July 29, 2022
Quite a quick read - started and finished in the space of the 3 hour flight from Cairns to Melbourne, even with a toy rabbit distractingly bouncing on the book. But beautifully and evocatively descriptive, both of the landscape the couple moves too, and the explosive bushfire that rips it apart - the description of the bushfire particularly is gripping and moving.
I’m not convinced that the underlying… (theme? I guess?) of ‘the boy’ really added anything. I feel like maybe it was trying to provide some idea of rebirth at the end, but for me at least it only added complication to the otherwise lovely prose.
I’m not convinced that the underlying… (theme? I guess?) of ‘the boy’ really added anything. I feel like maybe it was trying to provide some idea of rebirth at the end, but for me at least it only added complication to the otherwise lovely prose.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews