Monkey Grip: Helen Garner

Australia, the late 1970s...Single mother and writer Nora navigates the tumultuous cityscape of Melbourne’s bohemian underground, often with her young daughter Gracie in tow. When Nora falls in love with the flighty Javo, she becomes snared in the web of his addiction. And as their tenuous relationship disintegrates, Nora struggles to wean herself off a love that feels impossible to live without.  When it first published in 1977, Monkey Grip was both a sensation and a lightning rod. While some critics praised the upstart Garner for her craft, many scorned her gritty depictions, her frankness about sex and drugs and the mess of motherhood and her unabashed use of her own life as inspiration. Today, such criticism feels old-fashioned and glaringly gendered, and Monkey Grip is considered a modern masterpiece.  A seminal novel of Australia’s turbulent 1970s and all it entailed -communal households, music, friendships, children, love, drugs and sex.