HOW TO END A STORY. 

HELEN GARNER.

I admit to relief when I finished this story. The end of a marriage.

A story indeed, revealed in diary format.  

The author is known for her skill in presenting readers with well written honest personal sagas.  Many of us may have shared similar days of a dying relationship.  Too true me Aunty.

However for some, truth is too close for comfort.  Both characters are writers and they are competitive.   Their individual points of view are laid bare, man and woman reeling from a great love worn out. By what?  Why?

Garner seeks answers.  Her visits with friends and a psychiatrist reveal frustration and a deep range of emotions. 

I feel the pain is too familiar and I wonder what is gained by baring one’s tear streaked face to the public.  I couldn’t do it, but literature is comfortable with the agony and ecstasy, and history will accept this into its folio of broken hearts.