When seventy-five-year-old Thomas Mullet reluctantly sits on his psychologist’s couch, he discloses three things: 1) He is dying; 2) His wife doesn’t know; and 3) Nor does his other wife.
1960 Gawler, South Australia. Church Street: a quiet street in a respectable country town, where wives keep neat houses and neighbours keep neat yards. A place where gossip stirs behind closed doors and privacy is elusive. Where newly married couple Thomas and Elsie Mullet are excited to start their lives together.
After being forced to resign her typing job, Elsie tries hard to adjust to becoming the perfect housewife, but despite her best attempts, grows lonely and bored. Until she meets the mysterious woman next door.
Aida Glasson is eighteen years old, unmarried, and hiding a shameful secret. Through failed biscuits, euthanised chickens and shared loneliness, Elsie and Aida’s friendship is cemented. But when that friendship takes a surprising turn, where does that leave Thomas?
Tender, moving and titillating, this is a love story like no other: an unforgettable portrayal of a complex family hidden in conservative suburbia.
'Delightfully sweet and tender with moments of tragic poignancy, this is a wise and compelling Australian story with a vivid and tangible sense of time and place. I fell head over heels for Elsie, Thomas and Aida and was desperate for them to prevail against all odds on their tumultuous journey.'
– NICOLA MORIARTY
'With great care and compassion . . . Kim Lock artfully weaves this moving and surprising story of the simple complexity of relationships and how they shape us'
– SOPHIE GREEN
'It’s so good, and I’m fairly certain you won’t have read anything at all like it before'
– THERESA SMITH WRITES
'a novel we currently need in the world'
– TIEN'S BLURB
'I loved it ... I wholeheartedly recommend people read this book!’
– 1GIRL2MANYBOOKS
'will be revered, enjoyed and cherished'
– READING, WRITING AND RIESLING
1960 Gawler, South Australia. Church Street: a quiet street in a respectable country town, where wives keep neat houses and neighbours keep neat yards. A place where gossip stirs behind closed doors and privacy is elusive. Where newly married couple Thomas and Elsie Mullet are excited to start their lives together.
After being forced to resign her typing job, Elsie tries hard to adjust to becoming the perfect housewife, but despite her best attempts, grows lonely and bored. Until she meets the mysterious woman next door.
Aida Glasson is eighteen years old, unmarried, and hiding a shameful secret. Through failed biscuits, euthanised chickens and shared loneliness, Elsie and Aida’s friendship is cemented. But when that friendship takes a surprising turn, where does that leave Thomas?
Tender, moving and titillating, this is a love story like no other: an unforgettable portrayal of a complex family hidden in conservative suburbia.
'Delightfully sweet and tender with moments of tragic poignancy, this is a wise and compelling Australian story with a vivid and tangible sense of time and place. I fell head over heels for Elsie, Thomas and Aida and was desperate for them to prevail against all odds on their tumultuous journey.'
– NICOLA MORIARTY
'With great care and compassion . . . Kim Lock artfully weaves this moving and surprising story of the simple complexity of relationships and how they shape us'
– SOPHIE GREEN
'It’s so good, and I’m fairly certain you won’t have read anything at all like it before'
– THERESA SMITH WRITES
'a novel we currently need in the world'
– TIEN'S BLURB
'I loved it ... I wholeheartedly recommend people read this book!’
– 1GIRL2MANYBOOKS
'will be revered, enjoyed and cherished'
– READING, WRITING AND RIESLING
