‘Manning is a writer with a unique voice whose work is pushing the boundaries of contemporary short fiction.’ Paddy O’Reilly

Mary Manning’s exciting debut collection includes a Goth clutching a homemade tart on a Melbourne tram, an old lady camping out on a medium strip and a wife who follows her trainspotting husband into his dreams. A person fitting on a suburban train challenges the equilibrium of urbane commuters and the weird guy jotting down words in the mall is about to commit an unspeakable crime. In fractured worlds of the future, sexual partners are purchased and returned like commodities and language as we know it is dealt a body blow.

There are plenty of stories riding the tram, bus and train routes of Melbourne─the absurd, the pathetic, the menacing and the profound─and Mary Manning has been out there with her pen, capturing them all with a compassionate eye, linguistic flair and her particular brand of wicked humour.

Expertly crafted and highly imaginative, the stories explore alienation, criminal behaviour and love. There is also theme of longing in these stories—for connection and understanding in a world where relationships and people are variously damaged.

Mary Manning is an accomplished Melbourne poet and author of non-fiction. Her work has been published in Wakefield Press anthology, Small City Tales of Strangeness and Beauty. She won the Victorian Fellowship of Writers, Angelo B Natoli short story prize and her stories have appeared in Eureka Street magazine.