Here is an unusual and beautifully written Australian memoir destined to become a classic that captures the vulnerability and ardour of youth, and the fragility and strength of parental love.
Robert Hillman has written a number of books including his 2004 memoir The Boy in the Green Suit, which won the Australian National Biography Award, and Joyful, published in Australia in 2014. His most recent book is The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted, published by Faber & Faber in 2019. He lives in Melbourne.
"One of the many attractions of this book is the wry affection with
which the older man is able to look back upon his younger self.
This is a tribute to both the writer and, in a sense, to Hillman as
a human being...The Boy in the Green Suit is an exquisitely painful
book about one of the besetting conditions of modern life:
restlessness...There's an old adage that you can change the scenery
but not yourself. Hillman tells that story with poignancy and
warmth."
--Michael McGirr, Australian Book Review "The great challenge of
all memoirs is to walk the tightrope between personal reminiscence
and stories which resonate far beyond the author and his or her
family and friends. Robert Hillman achieves this balancing act
nearly perfectly by mixing his stories of growing up in Victoria,
and his subsequent travels around the world, with a wonderfully
persuasive sense of innocent and endearing daydreaming."
--Bruce Elder, Sydney Morning Herald "The book becomes the story of
physical and psychic survival, with a sub-plot around the story of
Hillman's father, recreated as a strong and deeply troubled
presence. While it has familiar familial themes, Hillman's complete
lack of sentimentality gives it a punch sometimes lacking in such
memoirs. Further, when the wild ride across the Middle East and
parts of south Asia ends, when the boy is home and the book is
closed, readers may find themselves only just beginning to marvel
at the ordeal it describes."
--Jill Rowbotham, The Australian "Hillman's resilience alone makes
this a memoir worth reading. A childhood where he was thought to be
simple, a mother's desertion and much more, and yet the person
shining through these pages has a great charm and optimism."
--Anne Susskind, The Bulletin "Robert Hillman's The Boy in the
Green Suit is a perfect miniature. It is a memoir of great
sophistication and artfulness, that is also dramatically moving and
laugh-aloud funny...it is done with unerring tonal control, and a
mastery of diverse literary skills--cameo characterisation,
hallmark dialogue and a keen sense of literary architecture."
--Judges' citation, National Biography Award
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