One Hundred Days

Shortlisted for the 2022 Miles Franklin Award

From one of Australia's most celebrated authors comes a mother-daughter drama exploring the faultlines between love and control.

One hundred days. It's no time at all, she tells me. But she's not the one waiting.

In a heady whirlwind of independence, lust and defiance, sixteen-year-old Karuna falls pregnant. Not on purpose, but not entirely by accident, either. Incensed, Karuna's mother, already over-protective, confines her to their fourteenth-storey housing-commission flat, to keep her safe from the outside world - and make sure she can't get into any more trouble.

Stuck inside for endless hours, Karuna battles her mother and herself for a sense of power in her own life, as a new life forms and grows within her. As the due date draws ever closer, the question of who will get to raise the baby - who it will call Mum - festers between them.

One Hundred Days is a fractured fairytale exploring the fault lines between love and control. At times tense and claustrophobic, itis nevertheless brimming with humour, warmth and character. It is a magnificent new work from one of Australia's most celebrated writers.

ISBN: 9781760641832 | Published: 1 June 2021 | Trade paperback | 288 pages