The Weekend

More Information & Critical Reviews

Charlotte Wood has been described as one of Australia’s most original and provocative writers. She is the author of six novels and two books of non-fiction. Her latest novel, The Natural Way of Things, won the 2016 Stella Prize, the 2016 Indie Book of the Year and Novel of the Year, was joint winner of the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction, and has been published throughout Europe, the UK and North America. Her non-fiction books include The Writer’s Room, a collection of interviews with authors about the creative process, and Love & Hunger, a book about cooking.Her features and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Literary Hub, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Saturday Paper.

‘Capture summer (even if you can’t leave your house) with a tender read dripping in easy nostalgia.’ Marie Claire

‘This is a stunning exploration of ambiguities—of power, of morality, of judgment. With a fearless clarity, Wood’s elegantly spare and brutal prose dissects humanity, hatreds, our ambivalent capacities for friendship and betrayal, and the powerful appearance—always—of moments of grace and great beauty…It will not leave you easily; it took my breath away.’ Ashley Hay, author of The Railwayman’s Life 

‘Wood finds a beautiful balance between her three women, swivelling between their perspectives on the present and their shared past. The gaps between how a character sees themselves and how their friends see them are astutely drawn, both painfully comic and frequently heartbreaking… Wood is to be praised for taking female friendship seriously and for being caustically honest – there’s not a sentimental line in this beautifully insightful book.’ The Observer

‘Three 70-something women spend Christmas together and find new tensions in their long friendship. With the lightest of touches, this big-hearted, insightful read tackles friendship, ambition, ageing and death.’ Good Housekeeping

‘A darkly funny, truthful novel… There is endless pleasure to be found in the candour and compassion Wood brings to bear on femininity and female friendship.’ Metro (UK)

‘A lovely, lively, intelligent, funny book… So good on aging and on the fraught, warm friendships between women.’ Tessa Hadley, author of The Past

‘I found reading The Weekend both hypnotic and profoundly unsettling. The prose is sharply vivid and precise, the characters and location exceptionally real, and I challenge anyone to write a better description of an elderly dog and its owner. Masterful.’ Rosamund Lupton, author of Sisters and Three Hours