Today I’m very pleased to welcome Edwina Shaw, to tell us about her favourite book of the year.

Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko stayed with me long after I read it. It deservedly won the 2019 Miles Franklin Award with a mixture of dark humour, violence and family secrets. Too Much Lip made me laugh, but it also moved me deeply and even better, helped me to understand the experience of First Peoples here in Australia in a very human way. I loved these characters on the edge of destroying themselves and each other. I felt for them and wanted things to go their way. A compelling plot brings Melissa’s beautiful writing to life as the Salter family struggle against the system, small town corruption and each other in a fictional town in Northern NSW. Kerry, the protagonist on a stolen Harley, has a soft spot for her young nephew Donny. His fragility and need for guidance and love also endeared him to me and his transformation throughout the novel is both powerful and symbolic.  Too Much Lip is an important and valuable contribution to Australian literature and a ripping good read.

Edwina Shaw is the author of Thrill Seekers, In the Dark of Night and over 40 short pieces that have appeared in literary journals and anthologies including Best Australian Stories. She is the commissioning editor of Bjelke Blues. She teaches creative writing at UQ and also runs Relax and Write Retreats. http://www.edwinashaw.com https://relaxandwriteretreats.blog