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Afresh and sparkling book that strikes deep notes as it flows along.' HelenGarner'Like the suburb it depicts, On Brunswick Ground teems with lives at once familiar and strange, all beautifully lit by the glint and warmth of Saint Phalle's prose. Shadowed by local tragedy, we come to care for these characters as much as they care for each other; with wry humour and in unexpected ways.' Roger AverillInthe Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, a female narrator, who remains unnamed istrying to come to terms with the absence of Jack, the man she loves. In a barshe meets Bernice, a radio personality, in her late thirties and flirting withIVF. Finding a job as a gardener, she discovers that her co-worker, Mitali, hasan unresolved mourning that attracts other deaths into its orbit. Later on, shebefriends the resolutely mysterious bar owner, Sarah, and her daughter, Mary,who has, for potent (and as yet unrevealed) reasons, converted to Islam anddonned a burqa.Thelives of these women are characterised by love and loss, and are woven togetherby their shared grieving at the senseless murder of Jill Meagher.OnBrunswick Ground traverses the world of longing, griefand personal loss with an assured and literary touch. It is a novel that isalso heart-warming, and affirming. Catherine de Saint Phalle truly understandsthe surprising ways in which tragedy and loss can tighten the bonds offriendship and of a community.