Almost a Mirror

$29.99

Format: ISBN: 978-1-925760-50-7 Trade paperback 304pp Rights: World Release / Publication Date: 01 /04 /2020
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Description

‘Imagine a perfect pop song covered by a hard-core punk band – Almost a Mirror will get stuck in your head in just the same way. A fierce, elegiac dissection of nostalgia, longing and loss, the novel fearlessly explores the true Janus face of art: creation and destruction, rebirth and ecstatic annihilation, trauma and remaking. The poised restraint of Kirsten Krauth’s prose makes everything else out there seem overwritten.’
KIRSTEN TRANTER

What we make of memories and what they make of us.

Like fireflies to the light, Mona, Benny and Jimmy are drawn into the elegantly wasted orbit of the Crystal Ballroom and the post-punk scene of 80s Melbourne, a world that includes Nick Cave and Dodge, a photographer pushing his art to the edge.

With precision and richness Kirsten Krauth hauntingly evokes the power of music to infuse our lives, while diving deep into loss, beauty, innocence and agency. Filled with unforgettable characters, the novel is above all about the shapes that love can take and the many ways we express tenderness throughout a lifetime.

As it moves between the Blue Mountains and Melbourne, Sydney and Castlemaine, Almost a Mirror reflects on the healing power of creativity and the everyday sacredness of family and friendship in the face of unexpected tragedy.

‘Kirsten Krauth is a damn fine writer of amazing insight and empathy. I don’t believe there’s any character she couldn’t get me to empathise with, any story she couldn’t make me care deeply about.’
EMILY MAGUIRE

SHORTLISTED FOR THE PENGUIN LITERARY PRIZE

Kirsten Krauth is a writer and podcaster based in Castlemaine. Her second novel ALMOST A MIRROR, published in 2020, was shortlisted for the Penguin Literary Prize and named by The Guardian in ’The Best 20 Australian Books of 2020’. Her ALMOST A MIRROR podcast series, inspired by the 80s pop and post-punk songs in her book, was released in September 2021, hitting #2 on the Australian Apple Music Podcast charts. A mash up of documentary and fiction, she is collaborating with musicians like Amanda Brown and Adalita on a soundtrack to the podcast. kirstenkrauth.com.au