A brilliant collection from one of Australia's leading writers
Close to Home brings together Alice Pungâs most loved writing, on topics such as migration, family, art, belonging and identity. Warm, funny, moving and unfailingly honest, this is Alice at her best â an irresistible pleasure for fans and new readers alike.
In 2006, Alice Pung published Unpolished Gem, her award-winning memoir of growing up Chinese-Australian in Melbourneâs western suburbs. Since then, she has written on everything from the role of grandparents to the corrosive effects of racism; from the importance of literature to the legacy of her parentsâ migration from Cambodia as asylum seekers. In all of this, a central idea is home: how the places we live and the connections we form shape who we become, and what homecoming can mean to those who build their lives in Australia.
âMost people have an idea of home as a place of comfort and safety. But it is more than that. Your home is a place where your suffering can take shelter.â âAlice Pung
âA beautiful book brimming with rich thoughts and intimate details ... Pungâs writing celebrates who we are, where weâve come from and the shape of things to come. â
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âA warm, wide-ranging selection ... Pungâs writing is crisp and colourful.â âThe Age
âMixes vivid personal stories with a sharply nuanced examination of Australiaâs knotty, turbulent race history.â âThe Weekend Australian
âAlice Pung is a gem. Her voice is the real thing.â âAmy Tan