Honour and Other People's Children

'Garner is a master anatomist of ordinary lives' THE TIMES
'A marvel of small domestic details' NEW YORK TIMES
'Garner writes with a fearsome, uplifting grace'  METRO 

In Melbourne, two sets of loose-living 1970s hippies are suddenly obliged to grow up.

Kathleen and Frank have been separated for five years. They share the care of their young daughter Flo, but have never bothered to get a divorce. That is until Frank falls in love, and they have to make space for his new relationship, a woman who wants a life with clarity and structure.

Elsewhere in the city, Ruth and Scotty have lived for years in a sharehouse with Ruth's daughter Laurel and her little brother Wally. But times are changing, and Ruth wants to move in with her boyfriend, leaving Scotty bereft, with no claims to the children she loves.

Originally published in 1980, Honour and Other People's Children is a gleaming, unusual book from one of Australia's greatest writers. Its stories vividly capture the suburban bohemia of late '70s Melbourne, and the perfect tangle of romantic, platonic and familial love.

A W&N Essential