The Singing

Tracing the extremes of grief and longing, The Singing tells the story of a woman’s attempt to come to terms with a failed love affair and to live with the weight of memory and impossible desire. The Singing is a first novel that unforgettably unites voice and experience.


On one level it is an account of a love that is unable to grow and complete itself because of illness, and must at last be relinquished. On another level it is a quiet and exquisite naming of the human need to love and remember. The Singing is a drama which takes place in whispers. Its movement and cadences create a sound that once absorbed will never wholly be lost.


“A striking new voice, calm and fresh. Her story has the seductive authority, and the quietly shocking beauty,

of a dream.” 

- Helen Garner