Pauline Holdstock Knihy

Winner of the 2023 City of Victoria Butler Book PrizeAn outrageously comic novel documents a middle-aged writer and mother's grappling with mid-life crisis—her husband's and her own. Preoccupied with her fledgling literary career, intent on the all-consuming consolations of philosophy, and scrambling to meet the demands of her four children, the acutely myopic and chronically inattentive Vita Glass doesn’t notice that her house and her marriage are competing to see which can fall apart fastest. She can barely find time for her writing career, and just when her newfound success in vegetable erotica is beginning to take off. Our heroine’s only tried and trusted escape is the blissful detachment of Keith's hairdressing salon, but when her husband leaves the country, unannounced, she decides to do likewise—in the opposite direction, and with their children. Drawn from the pages of Vita’s journal, this outrageously comic novel documents Vita's passage through a mid-life crisis and explores all the ways we deceive each other and ourselves.

After spending a night with his mother's dead body, a six-year-old boy stows away on an ocean liner.

Set against the backdrop of the Italian Renaissance, the narrative explores the life of Sofonisba, a gifted painter taking charge of her father's studio while grappling with her attraction to the charismatic rogue Matteo Tassi. The arrival of a young female slave, marked by her unique appearance, captivates the artists and scientists, transforming their relationships and perspectives. Pauline Holdstock intricately weaves themes of passion, power, and the human condition, offering a vivid portrayal of the era's artistic and spiritual complexities. A reading group guide is also included.