Welcome to Litsy!

“‘Brilliant but unstable‘, he said again, and I pictured myself as a spluttering, green firework.”

Oh Lillian 🥰😢❤️. What a debut for Kate Grenville. I found this challenging to comprehend at times & wonder whether it was intentional, in that it depicts the mind of Lillian, the first person narrator 🤔.

I‘m pleased to have read this 1984 #Australianclassic that I borrowed from my mum‘s shelves many years ago. 🙏🏻 #ozfiction

At the start of two weeks of holidays 👏🏻 I‘m making a start on this Australian classic that‘s been on my shelf for years. I‘m interested in my recent (unconscious) choice of material exploring female characters with significant mental health difficulties 🤔.

I also see it won the 1984 Vogel Award & I recently read this year‘s winner, Now That I See You.

#currentlyreading #ozfiction #serendipity

"Anyone can be lovely, but you are rare. "
Lilian's Story Kate Grenville

#kategrenville #liliansstory #australianfiction

In the 1950s, Bea Miles, a 'huge, loud, uninhibited, and eccentric bag lady' (as described by Grenville) used to charge sixpence to quote any piece from Shakespeare you wished to hear, and was the bane of Sydney taxi drivers everywhere (often refusing to pay, and trashing a cab or two if they turned aggro). Lilian's Story is very loosely inspired by Bea's life - like Bea, Lilian is well-read, from a middle upper-class family and is homeless.