AustLit logo

AustLit

image of person or book cover 1720359392654430071.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon Room for a Stranger single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2019... 2019 Room for a Stranger
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Since her sister died, Meg has been on her own. She doesn’t mind, not really—not with Atticus, her African grey parrot, to keep her company—but after her house is broken into by a knife-wielding intruder, she decides it might be good to have some company after all.

'Andy’s father has lost his job, and his parents’ savings are barely enough to cover his tuition. He can't go home to Hong Kong -- but if he wants to graduate, he’ll have to give up his student flat and find a homeshare. Living with an elderly Australian woman is harder than he’d expected, though, and soon he’s struggling with more than his studies.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Notes

  • Dedication: For Rani, Alyssa and Toby.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Text Publishing , 2019 .
      image of person or book cover 1720359392654430071.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 224p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 7 May 2019.

      ISBN: 9781925773545, 9781922268815 (pbk), 9781925774351 (ebk)
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Text Publishing , 2020 .
      image of person or book cover 4404202629292901875.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 288p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 1 December 2020.
      ISBN: 9781922268815

Other Formats

Works about this Work

Australia in Three Books Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin , Autumn vol. 80 no. 1 2021;

— Review of Looking for Alibrandi Melina Marchetta , 1992 single work novel ; Room for a Stranger Melanie Cheng , 2019 single work novel ; Stranger Country Monica Tan , 2019 single work autobiography

'I was a bookish child with a voracious hunger for stories. At the age of four, I would hold a tiny torch under my blanket at preschool during nap time so I could keep reading. I devoured all the books and demanded more. In those early days, the books that captured my imagination were about magical, impossible things: fairies, pixies, kindly moon folk. I pored over Australian kids’ books such as Animalia, Possum Magic and Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, losing myself in colourful illustrations of strange creatures, rather than anything rooted in the real.' (Introduction)

Everyone Has a Mirror Face Adrianne Blackwood , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Antipodes , vol. 33 no. 2 2019; (p. 437-438)

— Review of Room for a Stranger Melanie Cheng , 2019 single work novel
Victoria Nugent Reviews Room for a Stranger by Melanie Cheng Victoria Nugent , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Mascara Literary Review , December no. 24 2019;

— Review of Room for a Stranger Melanie Cheng , 2019 single work novel

'Two strangers from completely different backgrounds with seemingly little in common thrown together, it’s a common enough set up for a novel. But in Room for A Stranger, Melanie Cheng uses that premise exceptionally well to create an undeniably pleasurable read, rich in texture and feeling.' (Introduction)

Where Do the Lonely People Come from? Ed Wright , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 22 June 2019; (p. 24)

— Review of Room for a Stranger Melanie Cheng , 2019 single work novel

'While the towns and villages of Europe emptied into cities for the burgeoning opportunities and exploitations of the industrial revolution, the romantics countered with celebrations of nature and the individual. Literature has been fascinated by the figure of the isolated self, surrounded by millions, ever since.' (Introduction)

July in Fiction Michalia Arathimos , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , July 2019;
[Review] Room for a Stranger Helen Elliott , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Monthly , May no. 155 2019; (p. 65)

— Review of Room for a Stranger Melanie Cheng , 2019 single work novel
Where Do the Lonely People Come from? Ed Wright , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 22 June 2019; (p. 24)

— Review of Room for a Stranger Melanie Cheng , 2019 single work novel

'While the towns and villages of Europe emptied into cities for the burgeoning opportunities and exploitations of the industrial revolution, the romantics countered with celebrations of nature and the individual. Literature has been fascinated by the figure of the isolated self, surrounded by millions, ever since.' (Introduction)

Victoria Nugent Reviews Room for a Stranger by Melanie Cheng Victoria Nugent , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Mascara Literary Review , December no. 24 2019;

— Review of Room for a Stranger Melanie Cheng , 2019 single work novel

'Two strangers from completely different backgrounds with seemingly little in common thrown together, it’s a common enough set up for a novel. But in Room for A Stranger, Melanie Cheng uses that premise exceptionally well to create an undeniably pleasurable read, rich in texture and feeling.' (Introduction)

Australia in Three Books Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin , Autumn vol. 80 no. 1 2021;

— Review of Looking for Alibrandi Melina Marchetta , 1992 single work novel ; Room for a Stranger Melanie Cheng , 2019 single work novel ; Stranger Country Monica Tan , 2019 single work autobiography

'I was a bookish child with a voracious hunger for stories. At the age of four, I would hold a tiny torch under my blanket at preschool during nap time so I could keep reading. I devoured all the books and demanded more. In those early days, the books that captured my imagination were about magical, impossible things: fairies, pixies, kindly moon folk. I pored over Australian kids’ books such as Animalia, Possum Magic and Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, losing myself in colourful illustrations of strange creatures, rather than anything rooted in the real.' (Introduction)

Everyone Has a Mirror Face Adrianne Blackwood , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Antipodes , vol. 33 no. 2 2019; (p. 437-438)

— Review of Room for a Stranger Melanie Cheng , 2019 single work novel
Generational Exchange : Melanie Cheng on ‘Room for a Stranger’ Carody Culver (interviewer), 2019 single work interview
— Appears in: Books + Publishing , March vol. 98 no. 1 2019; (p. 19-21)

'Melanie Cheng’s debut novel Room for a Stranger (Text, May) follows the unlikely friendship between an elderly Australian woman and an international student from Hong Kong. Reviewer Carody Culver spoke to the author.'  (Introduction)

Traces Alice Nelson , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 411 2019; (p. 36)

'What does it mean to live in a place but never to fully belong to it? How does our capacity for intimacy alter when we are in exile? How do we forge an identity among haphazard collisions of cultures and histories?'  (Introduction)

Books Roundup Stop Being Reasonable, Room for a Stranger Ellen Cregan , Vanessa Giron , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , April 2019;
July in Fiction Michalia Arathimos , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , July 2019;
Last amended 29 Jul 2021 15:47:43
X