Too Close To Home

How tenuous the links are that build a life. Too Close To Home takes us right inside who we really are.

Freya writes uncomfortable domestic dramas. Her friends work in theatre and film, show in galleries, talk politics and are trying new ways of having children with friends. These are the people who are slowly gentrifying the next ring of inner-city suburbs while praising their diversity.

As the stultifying heat of summer descends, Shane, an Aboriginal man, moves up the road. He was once close to Matt, Freya's partner, and he not only brings with him a different approach to life, he also has news of a boy who might be Matt's son. Despite wanting to embrace all that Shane represents and the possibility of another child in their life, Freya and Matt stumble, failing each other and their beliefs.

Reading Group Book Questions

1. Are Freya and Matt any different to, more aware than, better than, their group of friends? Do you see Shane specifically as the catalyst for the change in their relationship?
2. Anna’s desire for a child – is it because she has turned 40, because she needs a new project, or perfectly natural?
3. Can art be a catalyst for change?
4. Freya thinks ‘I am fundamentally happy. It’s the state you want to attain, but as soon as you do, you realise the inevitability of change can only bring loss’. Can that be true?
5. Is the fading of a passionate love, into a content and secure love in a relationship inevitable?

About the Author

Georgia Blain has published five novels: CLOSED FOR WINTER, CANDELO, THE BLIND EYE, NAMES FOR NOTHINGNESS and the young adult novel DARKWATER. She was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Novelists in 1998, and has been shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Two of her novels have been optioned for feature films, including CLOSED FOR WINTER, which was filmed as Elise in 2007. She has been published internationally, with her work appearing in publications such as Granta and The Independent Magazine. Her most recent book for adults BIRTHS DEATHS MARRIAGES was shortlisted for the Nita B Kibble Award in 2009.