AustLit

'Wakes in real life were nothing like those in movies. The Introvert was trying to remember the last wake she had been to before this one. It was a week-long mourning ritual involving monks, a camera crew and so much food. It was her great grandfather's wake, and she was eleven. Photos of him showed him drinking liquor from bowls. He had no teeth, which made his cheeks and lips sag. The Introvert's mother would taunt her when ever she refused to brush her teeth as a child, pulling down her own cheeks until The Introvert shrieked and obliged.' (Introduction)