Stephanie Buckle
Habits of Silence
Finlay Lloyd, 2017
Afterwards, she couldn’t remember actually making a decision to steal from him. It was as if it had already been made, a long time ago, and simply awaited the opportunity.
She didn’t, of course, call it stealing. As she slid the fifty dollar note into the pocket of her own jeans, and dropped the shirt into the washing machine—carried on, in fact, as if nothing had happened—she told herself that someone had to take some responsibility.
The role of silence in the relationships of the people who populate this richly varied collection of stories is mirrored in the restraint of the writing that captures them. While the characters have all the difficulties communicating that we can recognise in our own lives, Buckle’s deceptively understated style reveals them with startling cumulative power.
Buckle’s stories have appeared widely, two of them in Best Australian Stories (Black Inc), and a number have won or been shortlisted for various prizes.
“…imbued with a deep sense of knowingness… Buckle’s insights into human relationships make you sit up and pay attention.”
About the Author
Stephanie Buckle is a novelist and short story writer who lives on a farm in Brindabella, NSW. Her stories have won a number of awards, including the Marjorie Graber McInnes Short Story Award, and the Fellowship of Australian Writers, A.C.T. Branch, Short Story Award. Behind the Lines won first prize in the E.J. Brady Short Story Award 2006. A Lovely Afternoon won third prize in the Henry Handel Richardson Short Story Award in 2014. Some of the stories have also appeared in previous publications: Lillian and Meredith in Best Australian Stories 2010, edited by Cate Kennedy. Fifty Years in Best Australian Stories 2011, edited by Cate Kennedy.
