Why do we say we’re fine when we’re not? What vulnerabilities might we be hiding? What hurts are we anxious to conceal? Speed date Wright’s accomplished debut collection here—then go to second base with its sharp and shapely short stories to find out.

It’s speed dating, right, so three questions only—you get in, get dirty and get out—and then you head straight to the bookshop where this stylish Aussie stunner can be found batting its big eyelid at the crowds.

What world are you from?

Not from one world but from many—fluidly traversing a rich array of inner and outer landscapes. Thirty-three stories offer insights into the frailties of human nature and the fractured lives some people lead. You’ll encounter the first moments of the tsunami in Sri Lanka in 2004; empathise with a widow who listens to a taped version of her husband’s voice each day but tells her grown children she is fine and ‘Keeping busy’; climb onto a rooftop where two girls drink wine and watch the sky with an old man; shiver at the cruel world of puberty where a girl is isolated and bullied … and so much more.

As Wright says, ‘I’m always finding myself drawn to stories of unlikely human connections. I like reading them, watching them and writing them.’

You’ll smile in recognition and wince in pain. You’ll be moved and intrigued.

What do you consider your best attributes?

Miles Franklin-winning author, Sofie Laguna, says ‘Fine is a brilliant debut of originality, depth and beauty. Michelle Wright’s stories are beautifully drawn portals into complex, layered, sometimes painful worlds … Every story surprised me in a different way; I was by turns, unsettled, saddened, delighted and uplifted.’

With that sort of rap, surely it’s worth a longer date or dalliance? So why not get in between Fine’s covers to acquaint yourself with its charm and cheek?

What’s your best chat up line?

One line? You’re kidding? I’m a loquacious chameleon, so here are some paragraphs to show you what I’m made of …

From ‘Moon Shiny Night’

When we see Taffy lying in his hospital bed, he looks about a hundred years old. They’ve undone the plaits from his beard, but we look under the sheets and his toenails are still blue. I show him the Cloud Spotters page on Facebook on my phone. They’ve posted his photos and he’s got seventy-six likes. We have to explain what that means and when we do he says he feels pretty famous …

From ‘Moving Men’

She always dressed so well. Even through the crisis. No one at work would ever have suspected.

He, on the other hand, wore his turmoil for all to see. Just couldn’t get it together. Nothing seemed to match. He started wearing strange combinations when he was alone. And sometimes to put out the bins and walk the dog. Footy shorts with Hawaiian shirts, pyjama pants with parkas. Like a child playing dress-ups.

From ‘Down’

There’s a blowie trapped between the sliding door and the flywire. It bashes up against the glass, frantic and determined. With her head on the cushion, she tracks its movements with her eyes and feels the pity start to grow. Shhh, she thinks, wishing it’d just stop panicking and rest. But it keeps bashing, buzzing and bashing, till it drops down to the bottom, soundless and finally dead.

If you date your books on their author credentials …

Wright’s credentials are impressive. She has won many awards, including the Age short story competition, the Grace Marion Wilson Award, and the Overland Victorian University Award. Fine was shortlisted for the 2015 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. In 2015 she won a Faber Writing Academy at Allen & Unwin scholarship to attend their Writing a Novel course with tutors Paddy O’Reilly and Toni Jordan.

Her stories have been published in many Australian and international journals and anthologies, including Sleepers Almanac, Margaret River Press, Overland, The Los Angeles Review and Folio Magazine. She was also awarded the 2013 Writers Victoria Templeberg Fellowship and spent six weeks researching stories in Sri Lanka—a number of which appear in Fine.

So, you see, Fine is rather fine. Use these details now to book your next  date!

Fine
Michelle Wright
Allen & Unwin
$29.99