Monica Bloom — Nick Earls

"It was my last year at school, our last year that began in the house on the hill at Hamilton, and it did not become the year any of us had expected. It started well enough when, on the final day of the holidays, a new voice made its way over the fence from the neighbours' pool. It was the twins' cousin, Monica Bloom, arrived that morning from Dublin."

Matt Sherman is about to begin his final year of school the day he encounters Monica Bloom and her blonde braids and her bluebird earrings. It's a carefree day of swimming and punch and Marco Polo, but Matt's life is about to become anything but carefree. A financial scandal at the company his father works for is going to create turmoil throughout Matt's entire life, from home to school, but the brief, fleeting moments when he sees Monica Bloom will carry him through the year.

"Earls' prolific oeuvre of 12 novels and two short-story collections has steadily built him an international reputation as a contemporary writer who makes comic yardage--from subtle irony to groan-out-loud gags--out of the emotional entanglements of decent men during episodes of self-evaluation and transformation."
-Sydney Morning Herald

"Contemporary, cliché-free Australian fiction that is sure to have a very wide appeal."
-The Australian

"Earls' appeal is his skill for developing lovable, self-deprecating Aussie males in the 18-40 year-old range."
-Stage Whispers

"Earls paints the battle of the sexes as a friendly duel with plenty of promising common ground, and readers should enjoy this amiable, well-crafted and genuinely romantic book."
-Publishers Weekly on "Perfect Skin"

"Nick Earls is on a literary trail trodden by J.D. Salinger . . . Where this at times very funny and insistently poignant novel achieves its momentum is in the careful pacing of character and slow release of emotions."
-The Age on "Monica Bloom"