You Belong Here
Jen and Steven meet at sixteen and marry at eighteen. Soon they’re the parents of three young children.
Initially, the kids keep them together until love turns to lies and the family implodes. As they become adults, each child faces love and loss in the shadow of their family legacy.
You Belong Here is a book about trust and connection. About what keeps us going in spite of ourselves.
About a place where we belong.
Shortlisted for the 2019 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards.
Publisher
Margaret River Press
Edition
1st
Format
Paperback
ISBN13
9780648203902
Tags
eBook
- iBookStore
- Kobo
- Amazon
About the Book
‘In You Belong Here, Laurie Steed brings us the Slaters, a family with all the dysfunction of an Anne Tyler novel, but with a distinctively Australian feel. At times I felt transported back to my teenage self—music blaring, face buried in a pillow, overcome with heartache, but also rather enjoying myself.’
MELANIE CHENG, winner of the 2016 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript
‘Laurie Steed is a master at conveying relationships that could be real to any of us, writing with depth, nuance, and subtlety. A beautiful read that will make these people as real to you as your own family.’
LES ZIG, author, Just Another Week in Suburbia
Shortlisted for the 2019 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards.
Reviews and Press
‘Interwoven short story collections are often at their best when they offer multiple perspectives on the same event. Laurie Steed does this well in his début novel You Belong Here . . .’ Australian Book Review
‘It’s funny, sad, sensual and deeply real.’ writingWA
‘Without doubt, Steed is a talent to watch.’ Books+Publishing
‘It’s a free-flowing, empathetic look at the best and worst of human nature.’ The Westerly
‘A little gem.’ Herald Sun
‘We’ll be hearing Steed’s name plenty more in the future.’ The AU Review
‘Laurie Steed is a writer who does not waste words.’ Book Spotlight
‘In this book, just like in the real world, belonging is an imperfect and ever-changing experience.’ Kill Your Darlings
‘Steed has compressed an incredible story between these two covers.’ Sam van Zweden
‘It’s a rewarding novel-in-stories, capturing both Generation X and Perth in phases of their life now lost.’ Nathan Hobby
Laurie was interviewed by Amanda Curtin for her blog series ‘2,2 and 2.’ Read the full version here.
Laurie featured on the ANZ LitLovers LitBlog series ‘Debut Mondays’.
Listen to Laurie’s breakfast interview with Caitlin on RTRFM 92.1 here.
Laurie featured on Annabel Smith’s blog series ‘How to Become A Writer‘.
‘Steed writes it in such a fresh and engaging way, albeit seriously so, that I was soon engrossed in his Slater Family.’ Whispering Gums
Laurie on the panel ‘The Art of Live‘, presented as part of the 2018 WA Writing and Publishing Sector Forum, produced by writingWA.
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