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The novel that launched the career of one of Australia's greatest writers, following the doomed infatuations of a young, single mother, enthralled by the excesses of Melbourne's late-70s counterculture

Inner-suburban Melbourne in the 1970s: a world of communal living, drugs, music and love. In her acclaimed debut, first published in 1977, Garner captures the fluid relationships of a community of friends. Nothing is harder than learning to love lightly. When Nora falls in love... Read Full Overview

Helen Garner's gritty, lyrical first novel divided the critics on its publication in 1977. Today, Monkey Grip is regarded as a masterpiece - the novel that shines a light on a time and a place and a way of living never before presented in Australian literature: communal households,... Read Full Overview

Helen Garner's gritty, lyrical first novel divided the critics on its publication in 1977. Today, Monkey Grip is regarded as a masterpiece - the novel that shines a light on a time and a place and a way of living never before presented in Australian literature: communal households,... Read Full Overview

"Set in Australia in the late 1970s, Monkey Grip follows single mother and writer Nora as she navigates the tumultuous cityscape of Melbourne's bohemian underground, often with her young daughter Gracie in tow. When Nora falls in love with the flighty Javo, she becomes snared... Read Full Overview