A collection of interconnected short stories set in the Western Australia coastal town of Angelus, exploring various characters at different stages in their lives and their turning points. The stories are poignant and melancholy, often focusing on themes of nostalgia, human frailties, and the 'turnings' in our lives. The writing style delves back and forth into the lives of characters, sometimes related more closely than at other times, with topics ranging from race and spousal abuse to intimacy and small-town life. The author, Tim Winton, presents these stories with an effortless, eloquent, and emotive writing style, capturing the essence of the characters and the setting without unnecessary flourish.

Characters:

Characters are complex and often come from working-class backgrounds, conveying emotional and psychological struggles throughout their interconnected stories.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is polished and evocative, capturing deep emotions and the essence of character and setting with fluidity.

Plot/Storyline:

The collection features overlapping narratives about characters in a small Australian town, exploring defining moments of their lives marked by disappointment and regret.

Setting:

The setting in and around a fictional coastal town in Western Australia captures the gritty and often harsh reality of small-town life.

Pacing:

The pacing throughout the collection is uneven, with significant momentum in the first half that diminishes as the book progresses.

AFTER FIVE YEARS of high school the final November arrives and leaves as suddenly as a spring storm. Exams. Graduation. Huge beach parties. Biggie and me, we’re feverish with anticipation; we steel ou...

Notes:

The Turning is a collection of interconnected short stories by Tim Winton.

The stories are set in a fictional coastal town called Angelus in Western Australia.

The collection features a returning character named Vic who appears in multiple stories.

Tim Winton is a renowned Australian author, twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Themes of disappointment, domestic violence, and working-class struggles are prevalent throughout the stories.

The Turning was initially published in 2005 and later republished in 2013 to coincide with a film adaptation.

Winton's writing style is known for its rich, evocative descriptions of Australian life.

The stories often explore defining moments and changes in the characters' lives.

Readers describe Winton's work as gritty and realistic, without romanticizing the subjects.

Some critics feel the stories can become repetitive, suggesting a lack of variety.

The collection blends elements of nostalgia and resignation, creating a melancholic tone.

Winton’s work is praised for its ability to evoke deep emotions and provide insights into human experiences.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings include themes of high familial and societal pressures, domestic violence, addiction, and potential triggers related to mental health and trauma.

From The Publisher:

The author of Dirt Music and The Riders captures the urgency of memory and the way an entire life can be shaped by one event from the past in this capsule of connected stories set on the coast of Western Australia.

Tim Winton's stunning collection of connected stories is about turnings of all kinds-changes of heart, slow awakenings, nasty surprises and accidents, sudden detours, resolves made or broken.

Brothers cease speaking to each other, husbands abandon wives and children, grown men are haunted by childhood fears. People struggle against the weight of their own history and try to reconcile themselves to their place in the world.

With extraordinary insight and tenderness, Winton explores the demons and frailties of ordinary people whose lives are not what they had hoped.

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About the Author:

Tim Winton grew up on the coast of Western Australia, where he continues to live. He is the author of eighteen books. His epic novel Cloudstreet was adapted for the theater and has been performed around the world. His two most recent novels, Dirt Music and The Riders, were both shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He has won the prestigious Miles Franklin Award three times, and in 1998 the Australian National Trust declared Winton a national living treasure. The Turning has already won the 2005 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction.

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The Turning

Tim Winton