In Kate Kruimink’s second novel Heartsease, two sisters Charlotte (Lot) and Ellen (Nelly) meet at a silent retreat in a strange old house in the Tasmanian countryside, seeking re-connection and release after the death of their mother.
The sisters swiftly escape to the pub, and what takes place over the coming hours is tragic in its unfolding but also riotous in its gallows humour. An account of sibling bonds readers can relate to and sympathise with.
Heartsease is a sad, sly and darkly comic story about the weight of grief and the ways in which family cleave to us – for better and for worse. It’s an account of love and ghosts so sharp it will leave you with paper cuts.
Kate Kruimink was born in Tasmania and spent most of her childhood in the Huon Valley, with an interlude on the West Coast.
After completing an Arts degree at the University of Tasmania, she lived and worked interstate and abroad for several years.
Today, she lives once again in the Huon Valley, now with her husband and children. She won the 2020 Vogel Prize for her debut fiction, A Treacherous Country. Heartsease is her second novel.
Heartsease is published by Pan Macmillan Australia and available from all leading book sellers including Booktopia.
Image: Heartsease – courtesy of Pan Macmillan Australia