‘… one more indication of the present and future health of Australian fiction.’ – The Australian on The Secret Son

 

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“farcical; laugh-out-loud funny and desperately sad.’

– The Saturday Paper on Little Gods

 

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‘Ackland’s Australian forebears here are Christina Stead, Miles Franklin and Amy Witting. Maybe Olive is our Scout Finch.’ – The Australian on Little Gods

 

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Jenny is a best-selling author and podcaster who lives in Melbourne, Australia. Her first novel THE SECRET SON (about truth and history, set in Australia and Turkey) was published in 2015 by Allen & Unwin. LITTLE GODS (set in the Mallee, country Victoria, and concerned with themes of girlhood, resilience and the mess of family), was published in 2018, again with A&U.

LITTLE GODS was shortlisted for the 2019 Stella Prize

 

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Jenny’s third novel HURDY GURDY will be published 4 June 2024

 

 

‘a powerful, propulsive, deeply moving piece of work’
– Myfanwy Jones on Hurdy Gurdy

 

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Back in December 2023, The Guardian mentioned that Hurdy Gurdy is a bold book they’re looking forward to. You can read the article here.

 

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From the publisher’s website:

A powerful and important novel with a crucial and timely feminist message, from the Stella Prize-shortlisted author of Little Gods.

 

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From the back cover:

She tells me to sit down, that she has something I need to hear and it’s that they don’t cut hair or set curls. Well, we do, she says, but not always. We help them with a problem. We make it go away.

In a near-future Australia, the world has changed. A small circus caravan travels the countryside performing for dwindling audiences. Matriarch Queenie works outside the law, helped by high-diver Win, nineteen and yearning for love. By night, they gather under the dark sky, joined by philosophical clown Valentina, and Girl, who they found at the side of the road. By day, they offer other services: hairdressing for women and a close shave for men. But while women come to them for help, men tend to disappear.

And in the distance, a reverend and his nun-like companion preach against alcohol, adultery and abortion. Two groups on an ideological collision course in a landscape altered by time and human error, while overhead a space mission has gone wrong.

Hurdy Gurdy sits alongside classics like The Handmaid’s Tale, Station Eleven and The Natural Way of Things, and is a provocation, both compelling and haunting. It’s a feminist revenge tale about the choices that women have to make, and it asks the big questions: 

Can beauty be found in times of great darkness? 

How do we go on?

 

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You can pre-order HURDY GURDY at the links below or at any good bookstore:

Allen & Unwin

Readings Books

Booktopia

 

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For media or appearance enquiries regarding Jenny’s books, please contact her publicist Ali Hampton at Allen & Unwin:

alih@allenandunwin.com

 

For international rights and other enquiries, please email jenny’s  agent Grace Heifetz at Left Bank Literary:

grace@leftbankliterary.com

 

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***Buy Little Gods here

‘A ripping, sprawling family saga featuring an eccentric cast with an abundance of big secrets.’ Stella Prize judges’ comments on Little Gods

 

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***Buy The Secret Son here

‘A remarkable and exhilarating debut. At once joyous and haunting, and a moving meditation on love, honour and belonging, it is a story about the strength of women and what it means to be a good man.’ Australian Arts Review on The Secret Son

 

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Podcasts + live salons

Jenny established the BAD DIARIES SALON in 2017, and since then there have been more than 20 salons, and 70+ readers. She has two podcasts which have spun off from the salon idea, and both can be found at the usual places. The first is called MY MUM’S BAD DIARIES, and is a weekly series in its second season, where she reads out her ‘bad’ ’80s diaries to her daughter, and they discuss. The second is the BAD DIARIES PODCAST and this is where Jenny and her Bad Diaries Salon comrade Tracy Farr discuss all things diaries – their own and other people’s, author processes and the writing life, along with occasional chats with special guests. For festival or bookshop appearances, please get in touch with Jenny directly to learn more. 

 

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