Kirsten Tranter giveaway
We have a copy of Kirsten Tranter’s new novel Hold to give away. To win, simply email us at editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au by 6pm today, Tuesday 29 March with your name and address and ‘Kirsten Tranter’ in the subject line. As we cannot afford to post giveaway copies overseas, entries from Australian residents only please.
A novel of grief and desire from the author of The Legacy and A Common Loss.
Three years ago, Shelley’s lover, Conrad, died in a surfing accident. Now, still in a state of subdued grief, Shelley has just moved into an old Victorian terrace in Paddington with David, her new partner, trying for a new beginning.
‘Soon after moving in, Shelley discovers a hidden door in her built-in wardrobe that leads to an empty, unrenovated room: its walls are covered in peeling damask wallpaper and an antique chandelier hangs from the ceiling. For Shelley, the room feels like an escape from David’s tasteful renovation, a refuge, and refuge is something she craves.’ – Kylie Mason.
When Shelley meets a man who seems to be Conrad’s uncanny double, the mysterious room begins to dominate her world, becoming a focus for her secret fantasies and fears, offering an escape which also threatens to become a trap …
‘I loved every gorgeous, spooky word of it, and was blown away by its poetry. An intimate, complex and gripping portrait of grief, it’s truly brilliant.’ Ceridwen Dovey, author, Only the Animals
‘Hold is an uncanny tale, in which Tranter uses the device of a secret room to create a compelling story of unresolved grief, in a structure so perfectly calibrated that it’s like being at the centre of an unfolding flower. Written with great delicacy and restraint, the novella is intensely evocative of Sydney and its disorienting subtropical strangeness.’ Amanda Lohrey
