In the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, a female narrator, who remains unnamed and is of indeterminate (European) origin, is trying to come to terms with the absence of Jack, the man she loves. He has suffered a partial memory loss. In a bar she meets Bernice, a radio personality, on the shady side of her thirties and flirting with IVF. Finding a job as a gardener, she discovers that her co-worker, Mitali, has an unresolved and angry mourning that attracts other deaths into its orbit. Later on, she befriends the resolutely mysterious bar owner, Sarah, and her daughter, Mary, who has, for potent (and as yet unrevealed) reasons, converted to Islam and donned a burqa. The lives of these women are characterised by love and loss, and are woven together by their shared grieving at the senseless death of local resident Jill Meagher. On Brunswick Ground traverses the world of longing and personal loss with an assured and literary touch. It is novel that is also heart-warming, and affirming. Catherine de Saint Phalle truly understands the surprising ways in which tragedy and loss can tighten the bonds of friendship and a community.