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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'HETTY and Ness have been best friends since childhood. Hetty is captivating, the life of the party. Ness is a wallflower, hopelessly in love with her.
'Leaving Melbourne to live abroad, they take a room in a share house of creatives in Toronto’s student quarter. Hetty disappears into barkeeping and nightlife, while Ness drifts aimlessly.
'But when Ness finds Faith in the art gallery, an intense affair develops. With friends and a job, at last her life starts to make sense. And Hetty’s starts to fall apart, a mess of bad drugs and bad men.
'As winter freezes the lakeside city, the dark undercurrents of Hetty’s character—abusive relationships, dangerous obsessions—become stronger. Ness may lose the person she loves more than anyone else in the world.
'Cherry Beach is a revelatory and beautifully written story of friendship and desire.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Notes
-
Dedication : 'For my grandparents, Helen and Max, and for my oldest friend, Isabel'
-
Epigraph :
'And indeed I remember believing
As a child, I could walk on water-
The next wave, the next wave-
It was only a matter of balance.'
-Gwen Harwood, At Mornington
-
Epigraph :
'Our love and our love alone
Keeps dowsing for water.
Sinking the well of each other, digging together.
Each one the other's phantom limb.'
-Marin Sorescu, Fountains in the Sea (translated by Seamus Heaney)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
What I’m Reading
2021
single work
column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2021; -
Books of the : Year A Look Back at Some of the Year's Finest Works
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 427 2020; -
Taking Female Queerness from Subtext to Text
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin , June vol. 79 no. 2 2020; (p. 204-207)
— Review of Cherry Beach 2020 single work novel 'In a Readings blog review of Inga Simpson’s Where the Trees Were, Melbourne bookseller Amy Vuleta jokes, ‘If you ever find yourself wondering, ‘Where are all the lesbians in books?’, you’ll find some of them here, just living their lives.’ It’s a good joke, because it’s difficult to find queer women in all literature—especially here in Australia. Even in this era of ‘woke publishing’ (or what might more reasonably be called ‘responsibly inclusive publishing’), queer women can still feel underserved by the offerings in most local bookstores.' (Introduction) -
Ness and Hetty : A Genlte Exploration of Female Friendship
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 421 2020; (p. 53)
— Review of Cherry Beach 2020 single work novel'How do you define love? How much of yourself do you need to sacrifice to keep a friendship afloat? And can we ever truly understand the inner workings of other people’s lives? These are some of the questions that Laura McPhee-Browne explores in Cherry Beach, a gentle tale of female friendship.' (Introduction)
-
March in Fiction
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , March 2020;
— Review of Damascus 2019 single work novel ; The Breeding Season 2019 single work novel ; The Coconut Children 2020 extract novel ; Wild Fearless Chests 2020 selected work short story ; Cherry Beach 2020 single work novel
-
Books Roundup
2020
single work
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , February 2020;
— Review of In the Clearing 2019 single work novel ; Cherry Beach 2020 single work novel -
Laura McPhee-Browne : Cherry Beach
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 15-21 February 2020;
— Review of Cherry Beach 2020 single work novel'The blurb for Cherry Beach, Melbourne-based author Laura McPhee-Browne’s debut novel, reads like the most tired kind of chick lit. It promises melodrama – in the form of lifelong friendships torn asunder, unrequited love and men gone bad, all set to the tune of “dark undercurrents” – albeit with a queer twist.' (Introduction)
-
March in Fiction
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , March 2020;
— Review of Damascus 2019 single work novel ; The Breeding Season 2019 single work novel ; The Coconut Children 2020 extract novel ; Wild Fearless Chests 2020 selected work short story ; Cherry Beach 2020 single work novel -
Ness and Hetty : A Genlte Exploration of Female Friendship
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 421 2020; (p. 53)
— Review of Cherry Beach 2020 single work novel'How do you define love? How much of yourself do you need to sacrifice to keep a friendship afloat? And can we ever truly understand the inner workings of other people’s lives? These are some of the questions that Laura McPhee-Browne explores in Cherry Beach, a gentle tale of female friendship.' (Introduction)
-
Taking Female Queerness from Subtext to Text
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin , June vol. 79 no. 2 2020; (p. 204-207)
— Review of Cherry Beach 2020 single work novel 'In a Readings blog review of Inga Simpson’s Where the Trees Were, Melbourne bookseller Amy Vuleta jokes, ‘If you ever find yourself wondering, ‘Where are all the lesbians in books?’, you’ll find some of them here, just living their lives.’ It’s a good joke, because it’s difficult to find queer women in all literature—especially here in Australia. Even in this era of ‘woke publishing’ (or what might more reasonably be called ‘responsibly inclusive publishing’), queer women can still feel underserved by the offerings in most local bookstores.' (Introduction) -
Books of the : Year A Look Back at Some of the Year's Finest Works
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 427 2020; -
What I’m Reading
2021
single work
column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2021;
Awards
-
Toronto,
Ontario,
cCanada,cAmericas,
