Steeplechase

Publishing Details

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Description

A moving and powerful book about art, love, sibling bonds and madness. Bec Reich lives in the shadow of her sister Emily, an internationally recognised artist and known schizophrenic. Though estranged for years, Bec receives a call from Emily inviting her to her latest exhibition in Beijing. As Bec prepares for the reunion, she finds herself drawn back into the dark secrets of her childhood and she is forced to confront her complicity in her sister's madness. A new literary direction for Krissy Kneen, this book harnesses the intensity and honesty of her earlier works.

Reviews

'Kneen has a rare gift for constructing the most exquisite architectures of narrative and meaning from simple and elegant prose.' -- John Birmingham 'Steeplechase is both disturbing and mesmerising. This is writing that displays incredible emotional depth. Krissy Kneen is an author who writes with generosity and truth.' -- Favel Parrett 'Krissy Kneen's deceptively simple prose careens towards a startling and horrifying denouement; her talent for strikingly vibrant imagery shines...Steeplechase is a departure for Kneen, who is best known for her erotic writing. This novel will appeal to a broader audience, while her fans will continue to relish Kneen's vivid imagery and fearless prose.' Australian Bookseller & Publisher 'This is a text steeped in the reactions of the body. It is this corporeality, a style honed from earlier works, that makes Kneen's prose so remarkable, and attempts to categorise her writings into distinct genres so meaningless...With her most recent work [Kneen] has cemented her place as an author to be read because of the promise, sensual or otherwise, signified by her name on the spine.' Weekend Australian 'A densely plotted and compelling tale...Kneen is adept at defusing tension with scenes of Beijing life and with the homely affection of Bec's reluctant affair, but as the novel nears its revelatory and satisfying climax she cuts more and more rapidly and with absolutely assurance between past and present, never losing the reader but ramping up tension and expectation until the book is impossible to put down...Kneen's first real fiction is an accomplished work that will not easily be forgotten.' Adelaide Advertiser 'The voice is strong, the writing vivid, the prose disarmingly frank, uncluttered and easily propels the reader along...Conversational exchanges are convincing, creating high-resolution snapshots of scene and people. Verdict: Lyrical, persuasive and intriguing.' Courier Mail 'Krissy's books are filled with passionate and lush language.' Tasmanian Times 'The narrative framework is carefully constructed; this is a text with an architectural sensibility of a hall of mirrors. The principal themes of artistic genius, madness, and self-realisation are beautifully conveyed through metaphors of restoration and forgery...Steeplechase is understated and potent. Kneen's restrained prose is elegant in its simplicity. Despite the highly emotive subject matter, it never becomes overblown or hysterical. The premise behind steeplechasing is that the obstacles make the horse demonstrate agility, power, intelligence, and bravery.' Australian Book Review 'Steeplechase is a strange and intricate work that, like any excellent work of art, creates its own tight world whose engine is anxiety and suppression. Kneen has an unvarnished and natural voice that belies the immense sophistication framing the restrained texture of the emotion...Kneen has created a world of Australian gothic, which has the same reach and luminous stillness as that of her fellow Queenslander Andrew McGahan's impressive 2004 prize-winning The White Earth.' Age / Sydney Morning Herald

Author Bio

Krissy Kneen is the award-winning author of the memoir Affection (Text Publishing Australia 2009 and Seal Press USA 2010) which was shortlisted for the Qld Premier's Literary Award in the non-fiction category, and the 2010 ABIA awards for Biography, Triptych- An Erotic Adventure (Text 2011) and the literary fiction novel Steeplechase (Text 2013). In 2014 she won the prestigious Thomas Shapcott award for poetry for her collection, Eating My Grandmother. Her novel Holly's Incredible Adventures in the Sex Machine will also be published by Text in 2015. She has written and directed short films and broadcast documentaries for SBS and ABC television and has had short stories published in literary journals, books and magazines including Griffith Review, Kill Your Darlings, Nerve.com, The Big Issue, Best Women's Erotica 2014, Women of Letters and The Lifted Brow.