AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'The night Eva shared a smile with Pat, something started. Two weeks later, lying together in her bed, Pat said, 'You can't live your life saying you'll get around to doing something you know will make you happy. You just have to do it.'
'Eva didn't know how devastating those words would turn out to be. Pat dies and the aftershock leaves Eva on unsteady ground. She is pregnant. And she has to make a choice. Suddenly, the world that she at times already questioned, her career, her roommates and friends, and life in the inner-city are all even harder to navigate. Her best friends, Sarah and Annie, are also dealing with the shifts and changes of their late twenties, and each of them will at times let the others down.
'Small Joys of Real Life is a poignant and unpredictable novel from an exciting new literary talent about how the life you have can change in an instant. It's about friendship, desire, loss and growing up to accept that all you can do is be in the moment and look to find the joys in between.' (Publication summary)
Notes
-
Dedication: 'For Mum'
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Grief and Loss : Fiction from a Child’s Point of View
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 437 2021; (p. 35-36)
— Review of We Were Not Men 2021 single work novel ; The Cookbook of Common Prayer 2021 single work novel ; Small Joys of Real Life 2021 single work novel'One of the hardest challenges for a novelist is to write a story for adults from the point of view of a child. In 1847, Charlotte Brontë set the bar high with Jane Eyre, the first novel to achieve this. The story ends when Jane is a woman but commences with the child Jane’s perspective. So effective for readers was Brontë’s ground-breaking feat that Charles Dickens decided to write Great Expectations in the voice of the child Pip, after just hearing about Jane Eyre, even before reading it.' (Introduction)
-
Coming of Age on Impulse
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , October 2021;
— Review of Small Joys of Real Life 2021 single work novel'The soft pastel-pink cover of Allee Richards’ debut novel features a helmetless young woman in a short green dress riding a pushbike, her dark hair blowing in the breeze. From her carefree demeanour and the title, you could be forgiven for thinking that this is a self-help book full of hokey affirmations about finding beauty in ephemeral moments. Small Joys of Real Life is, however, more nuanced and complex than this first impression might suggest.' (Introduction)
-
Books Roundup : Small Joys of Real Life, Things We See in the Light, Lies, Damned Lies, My Body Keeps Your Secrets
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , September 2021;
— Review of Small Joys of Real Life 2021 single work novel ; The Things We See in the Light 2021 single work novel ; Lies, Damned Lies 2021 single work autobiography ; My Body keeps Your Secrets 2021 single work autobiography biography -
Small Joys of Real Life by Allee Richards Review : Millennial Tragedy Finds Joy amid Doom
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 11 August 2021;
— Review of Small Joys of Real Life 2021 single work novel
-
Small Joys of Real Life by Allee Richards Review : Millennial Tragedy Finds Joy amid Doom
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 11 August 2021;
— Review of Small Joys of Real Life 2021 single work novel -
Books Roundup : Small Joys of Real Life, Things We See in the Light, Lies, Damned Lies, My Body Keeps Your Secrets
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , September 2021;
— Review of Small Joys of Real Life 2021 single work novel ; The Things We See in the Light 2021 single work novel ; Lies, Damned Lies 2021 single work autobiography ; My Body keeps Your Secrets 2021 single work autobiography biography -
Coming of Age on Impulse
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , October 2021;
— Review of Small Joys of Real Life 2021 single work novel'The soft pastel-pink cover of Allee Richards’ debut novel features a helmetless young woman in a short green dress riding a pushbike, her dark hair blowing in the breeze. From her carefree demeanour and the title, you could be forgiven for thinking that this is a self-help book full of hokey affirmations about finding beauty in ephemeral moments. Small Joys of Real Life is, however, more nuanced and complex than this first impression might suggest.' (Introduction)
-
Grief and Loss : Fiction from a Child’s Point of View
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 437 2021; (p. 35-36)
— Review of We Were Not Men 2021 single work novel ; The Cookbook of Common Prayer 2021 single work novel ; Small Joys of Real Life 2021 single work novel'One of the hardest challenges for a novelist is to write a story for adults from the point of view of a child. In 1847, Charlotte Brontë set the bar high with Jane Eyre, the first novel to achieve this. The story ends when Jane is a woman but commences with the child Jane’s perspective. So effective for readers was Brontë’s ground-breaking feat that Charles Dickens decided to write Great Expectations in the voice of the child Pip, after just hearing about Jane Eyre, even before reading it.' (Introduction)
Awards
- 2020 shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript by an Emerging Victorian Writer as 'In Real Life'.
- 2019 shortlisted The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers as 'In Real Life'.