Small Joys of Real Life (Allee Richards, Hachette)

Small Joys of Real Life begins at a house party in Northcote, Melbourne, where the narrator, actress Eva McMillan, meets a cute guy, Pat. Two weeks later, they meet again at a gig; a few weeks after that, another house party. That night, they go home together. Not long after, Pat takes his own life, and Eva discovers she is pregnant with his child. Shortlisted for both the Richell Prize and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, Allee Richards’ debut novel sketches the contours of grief within this strange situation. From Eva’s perspective we see the discombobulation of losing someone you never really knew. Chapters addressed to Pat are written with such tenderness that they feel almost too intimate to read. Richards captures the essence of inner-city Melbourne life for twentysomethings in the places they inhabit and the relationships they have, both on and offline. The privileged Eva is reckless and self-indulgent. She treats her casual sex partner unfairly; she tries to get close to Pat’s best friend, since she can’t get close to Pat himself; she has moments of gracelessness towards her mother and best friends. She’s not always likeable, but the reader always roots for her. Small Joys of Real Life is a painful, beautiful novel that is a welcome addition to Australia’s growing crop of women-centred millennial fiction. Readers of Jennifer Down, Laura McPhee-Browne and Victoria Hannan will find much to like here.

Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen is a Melbourne-based writer and critic.

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