Elizabeth Jolley – författare

THE AUSTRALIAN GOTHIC MASTERPIECE 'Jolley is one of our most daring writers' HELEN GARNER'Propulsive, tense and poignant' HEATHER PARRY'A pitch-black, pitch-perfect depiction of desire, jealousy and control' ALICE SLATER What have you brought me, Hester? What have you brought me from the shop?' 'I've brought Katherine, Father,' Miss Harper said. 'I've brought Katherine, but she's for me.'Miss Hester Harper, middle-aged and eccentric, brings a young woman into her isolated existence on an Australian sheep farm. Together she and Katherine sew, cook gourmet meals for two, run the farm, make music and throw away their dirty dishes. Then one night, driving along the deserted track home, they hit a mysterious creature. They heave the body from the roo bar and dump it into the farm's deep well, where Hester knows it will never be found. But Katherine, drawn closer and closer to the edge of the well, begins to hear the voice of the injured intruder . . .INTRODUCED BY ALICE SLATER

In this masterly collection of stories, Elizabeth Jolley has created a splendid array of characters, all of whom fail to achieve the expected. Her stories are sometimes slyly comic, sometimes disturbing – but always they are written with a delicacy and compassion as moving as the characters themselves.

In a small Australian country town, a young woman is accused of the murders of her own daughter and the local rat catcher''s wife. As she stands to face the charges in court, a stranger enters, determined to explain her crimes.This masterly story from Woman in a Lampshade perfectly displays Elizabeth Jolley''s remarkable talent for character and story.