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  • Published: 4 May 2009
  • ISBN: 9781742284217
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 462

The Nearly Happy Family




'My point is this: who needs enemies when you have a family?'

Claire Delaney, a fiery fifteen-year-old, and her mother, Jackie, are both out of control.  They've had a lot to deal with after the tragic death of Claire's father – and they're driving each other crazy.

When Jackie, a forty-something comedian, announces she's going to marry a younger man she's only just met, Claire is outraged.  In retaliation she apprentices herself to a volatile Italian chef, who teaches her the secrets of his kitchen.  In time, both Jackie and Claire discover that life – like the best recipes – is at once mysterious and mysteriously simple.

'A convincing and engaging portrait of a family, with a cast of well-drawn minor characters, Some highly evocative South Australian settings and a wonderful account of like in a restaurant kitchen.'
SYDNEY MORNING HEARLD

' . . . delivers the untidiness of family life with humour and pathos.'
THE AGE

  • Published: 4 May 2009
  • ISBN: 9781742284217
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 462

About the author

Catherine McKinnon

Catherine McKinnon’s novel Storyland (Harper Collins, 2017) was shortlisted for the 2018 Miles Franklin Award, shortlisted for the 2018 Barbara Jefferis Award, the 2018 Voss Literary Prize and was named one of ABC TV’s The Book Club’s Five of the Best in 2017. She is one of the multi-authors of 100 Atmospheres: Studies in Scale and Wonder (Open Humanities Press, 2019). Catherine was co-winner of the Griffith Review: Tall Tales Short – The Novella Project 111 award in 2015. Her first novel, The Nearly Happy Family, was published by Penguin in 2008. Her plays have been produced nationally and Hurt was nominated for an AWGIE award in 2017. Catherine recently edited Adelaide Festival: 60 Years (Wakefield Press, 2020.). Her short stories, reviews and essays have appeared in Transnational Literature, Text Journal, RealTime, Narrative, Sydney Morning Herald, Meanjin and the Griffith Review. She teaches creative writing and performance at the University of Wollongong.

Storyland (shortlisted for the 2018 Miles Franklin Literary Award, the Barbara Jeffries Award, The Voss Literary Prize )
https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781460752326/

Meco Network's
100 Atmospheres: Studies in Scale and Wonder
http://www.openhumanitiespress.org/books/titles/one-hundred-atmospheres/

Storyland—the play, in development with Merrigong Theatre Company
https://merrigong.com.au/whats-on/merrigongx/


Adelaide Festival 60 Years
https://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product.php?productid=1558&cat=0&page=&featured=Y


The First Wave
https://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/search.php?mode=search&page=1&keep_https=yes

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