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A review by nina_reads_books
How to End a Story: Diaries: 1995–1998 by Helen Garner
4.0
How to End a Story: Diaries 1995 - 1998 was by far my favourite of Helen Garner’s three diaries. This final one was raw and emotional as she narrates the ending of her third marriage. The book was less scattered than the previous two which wandered around her life, her writing and relationships. This was a very intensely focussed look at how a relationship can falter and ultimately unravel.
The husband in this book is Australian author Murray Bail who was writing and published his book Eucalyptus during the time the diaries were recorded. I cannot imagine how he feels about Helen Garner publishing her diaries as he comes off spectacularly badly. He is sexist, selfish and rude. He pushed Garner out of their shared house during the day to allow him the space to write when in reality he did as much socialising as he did writing and in fact found the time to have an affair. His fixation with his own work to the exclusion of Garner’s was riddled with misogyny.
Hearing Garner’s inner dialogue about how she is feeling as she is minimised and gaslit by her supposedly loving husband was devastating and yet relatable to anyone who has been trapped in a drawn out breakup.
If you only pick up one of Garner’s diaries make it this one. As with the earlier two I listened to this on audio read by the author and I definitely recommend reading these via audio.
The husband in this book is Australian author Murray Bail who was writing and published his book Eucalyptus during the time the diaries were recorded. I cannot imagine how he feels about Helen Garner publishing her diaries as he comes off spectacularly badly. He is sexist, selfish and rude. He pushed Garner out of their shared house during the day to allow him the space to write when in reality he did as much socialising as he did writing and in fact found the time to have an affair. His fixation with his own work to the exclusion of Garner’s was riddled with misogyny.
Hearing Garner’s inner dialogue about how she is feeling as she is minimised and gaslit by her supposedly loving husband was devastating and yet relatable to anyone who has been trapped in a drawn out breakup.
If you only pick up one of Garner’s diaries make it this one. As with the earlier two I listened to this on audio read by the author and I definitely recommend reading these via audio.