A Hot Flush of Debut Novels!

Welcoming the era of the older woman in new Australian literature

As the seasons change and I start to consider how to exist in a world without my mother in it, grief has sent me to my bed - wanting nothing else than to disappear into another world with a good book.

Luckily, I had a stack of new releases from Australian authors to keep me company. These were mainly novels from the authors in the wonderful #Debut Crew 2024 - a group of first time Australian authors that came together to cheer each other on through the nerve wracking and sometimes-harrowing journey to publication. (These wonderful writers were kind enough to let me join even though my debut novel won’t be released until Jan 2025, so I am lucky now to be in both Debut Crew 2024 AND the newly established Debut Crew 2025! Greedy me!!)

Anyway, when I lost my mother in February and fell into a deep and unexpected grief I was grateful to already have a giant stack of enticing new fiction beside my bed - offering a welcome escape into the fictional world of an author’s imagination.

It wasn’t until I had begun to make my way through them however, that I realized what so many of them have in common - as Thuy On wisely points out, these are not the stories of sad millennials, navigating a way to start out in the world, through bad dates and mental health crises - no, instead these novels have older women at the center - women who were either in the flush of menopause or women who had long left the flushes behind.

Each of these novels told a story of an older women - women like my mother and I, women navigating all the messy and beautiful parts of a life that is heavy with caring responsibilities whilst simultaneously being rich and creative, replete with possibility and potential.

In varied and fascinating ways, these new Australian novels tell the stories of women from midlife and beyond - fighting off invisibility, both literal and figurative, or alternatively searching for it, wanting the world to disappear for just a while so they can catch their breath. These are the stories of older women, falling in and out of love, grieving the death of lifelong friends and navigating friendships and mental health and all the complex richness that our lives contain.

Trish Bolton - Whenever You’re Ready (Allen and Unwin)

This was the first novel I read after my mother died and the death at the beginning of this story was a punch in the gut I wasn’t expecting - my fantasy world colliding with my real world as I read about Trish’s protagonists trying to make sense of the sudden death of their lifelong friend - just as I was meeting with my own mother’s dearest friends to do the same. Thankfully, in our case, no long lost secrets have emerged (so far anyway) but Boltons warm and intricate characterization meant that I cared deeply for the rich and complex lives of the women in her novel.

Jane Tara - Tilda is Visible (Affirm Press)

In this clever and surprising novel, divorced and middle-aged Tilda wakes up one morning to discover her little finger has disappeared - or as she soon learns, become invisible - the first stage, according to her doctor, of an incurable and progressive illness that occurs to some women as they enter midlife. Horrified, Tilda seeks out others with the same diagnosis and goes through a hilarious and ultimately life affirming journey of learning how to fight to be seen.

Maxine Fawcett Everything is Perfect (Penguin Random House)

Perimenopausal and somewhat unlikable (at least at the start) Cassie Prince is having a midlife crisis of some sort - whether its perimenopause or just a general dissatisfaction with her boring yet outwardly happy life, she’s not sure, but something definitely is not ok and she channels all that dissatisfaction into an intense crush on a dad from her kid’s school. This novel looks at the ways past trauma can re-appear in strange and varied ways, forcing us to reckon with it, no matter how hard we try to ignore it.

Liz Foster The Good Womans Guide to Making Better Choices (Affirm Press)

When Libby’s husband is jailed for financial fraud that includes defrauding her brother (and with it losing his last chance at fatherhood via IVF) she loses everything that matters to her, including her job and her kid’s precious violin. Lost in middle age, Libby begins her life again at the goat farm where she grew up. This funny and warmhearted novel is full of twists and turns and is a lovely life affirming read about starting again when it all falls apart.