The Last Days of Chez Nous & Two Friends
Text Classics
Helen Garner
Afterword by Laura Jones
The Last Days of Chez Nous & Two Friends showcases the range of one of Australia’s greatest writers. These two scripts for films—The Last Days of Chez Nous was directed by Gillian Armstrong in 1991, and Two Friends by Jane Campion in 1986—are funny, sharp observations of relationships and friendships that are as intimate and engrossing as Helen Garner’s acclaimed novels. This edition comes with a new introduction by the internationally renowned screenwriter Laura Jones, winner of the inaugural Australian Writers’ Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
‘The screenplays have a tighter focus than Garner’s other fictions. They have a different purpose: they are written for performance and visual storytelling. They are to be seen differently, absorbed differently. But, like the novels, they are a joy to read.’ Read screenwriter Laura Jones’s afterword, published at if.com.au.
REVIEWS
andThe Last Days of Chez Nous & Two Friends
‘Helen Garner is an invaluable guide into harrowing territory and offers powerful and unforgettable insights.’
‘Garner’s spare, clean style flowers into magnificent poetry.’
‘Her voice—intimate yet sharp, wry yet urgent—inspires trust.’
‘(Garner’s) humour and pathos shine…The stories are absorbing, the preface, quite fascinating.’
‘Exceptional…Garner’s polished script believes in the power and relevance of small domestic moments.’
