LoveReading Says
Presenting incisive, illuminating character studies of a set of individuals who have strong tendencies to self-reflect and analyse human relationships, Diana Reid’s Seeing Other People is stacked with enthralling heart-in-your-mouth moments as it ripples with betrayals, shame, love and longing. It’s also witty and unexpected, with superb observations of human nature, and the unique bond between sisters.
Breakups and betrayal sit centre stage from the off, when Mark, Eleanor’s boyfriend of two years confesses that he almost slept with someone else. While Eleanor “hated that he had the power to hurt her”, her “heart (or whatever part of her brain she’d tasked with feelings) remained decidedly unbroken.” That said, the mere fact of being betrayed stings hard.
At the same time, Eleanor’s younger sister Charlie is an actress who falls for her director (and housemate) Helen. She also emails Mark in secret, so as not to upset her sister. They’ve long shared intimate musings on life, and he also shares drafts of his writing. Meanwhile, Helen and Eleanor strike up their own friendship, and “like a traveller heading down the wrong road, it was not until long after she took the turn that Eleanor would realise: she was lost.”
Intimate, thought-provoking, and explosive in unexpected ways, Seeing Other People is alive with contemplative characters who spark self-reflection, not least the sisters who come to accept that you can’t know everything, and “you can’t grow up with someone — stitch your character from common threads: childhood, home, family — without forming similar patterns.”
Joanne Owen
Find This Book In
Seeing Other People Synopsis
Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist 2022
SHORTLISTED for the INDIE AWARD for BEST FICTION
SHORTLISTED for the ABIA for Literary Fiction
LONGLISTED for the BookPeople Book of the Year for Fiction
'This! Was! So! Good! ... Diana Reid you are in a total league of your own.' - Zara McDonald, Shameless Podcast
'Seeing Other People will be the book of the summer.' - PedestrianTV
'An extraordinary new voice in Aussie lit.' ? Zoë Foster Blake
'a captivating read that feels made for racing through while lying on the beach.' ? Vogue Australia
Charlie's skin was stinging. Not with heat or sweat, but with that intense, body-defining self-consciousness-that sense of being watched. She lowered her eyes from Eleanor's loving gaze. Her throat taut with tears, she swallowed. 'You're a good sister, Eleanor.'
'Don't say that.'
After two years of lockdowns, there's change in the air. Eleanor has just broken up with her boyfriend, Charlie's career as an actress is starting up again. They're finally ready to pursue their dreams-relationships, career, family-if only they can work out what it is they really want.
When principles and desires clash, Eleanor and Charlie are forced to ask: where is the line between self-love and selfishness? In all their confusion, mistakes will be made and lies will be told as they reckon with the limits of their own self-awareness.
Seeing Other People is the darkly funny story of two very different sisters, and the summer that stretches their relationship almost to breaking point.
PRAISE FOR SEEING OTHER PEOPLE:
'a great summer read.' - The Guardian
'The prose sparkles on the page, as effervescent and drinkable as a glass of prosecco on a warm summer's evening.' - The Australian
'We absolutely adored this hotly-anticipated novel' - The Shameless Bookclub
'If you tore through Love & Virtue last year, you'll want to add Diana Reid's second novel to the top of your reading bucket list.' - Marie Claire
'I enjoyed this funny, charming and enormously readable novel a great deal, in large part due to the wit and authenticity with which Reid represents her characters and their world.' - The West Australian
'Reid hasn't lost her skewering wit.' - Sydney Morning Herald
'a compulsive read' - Primer
'funny and engaging' - ArtsHub
'Reid's witty and insightful social observation is something to relish' - ABC Radio National, The Bookshelf
'There is a genuine warmth as well as capacious intelligence and sly humour to Reid's writing, and a dynamic energy to the novel that's always compelling' - The Guardian
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781761151705 |
| Publication date: |
4th July 2024 |
| Author: |
Diana Reid |
| Publisher: |
Ultimo Press |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
304 pages |
| Primary Genre |
General Fiction
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