Never will a book leave you so torn open and change your views on loving and grieving like this book! A truly colourful story of a remarkable woman who shot into fame for winning “Alone” Australia, but who’s journey was well and truly a rollercoaster well before the show aired. Gina is a 3^rd generation author and a lyrical storyteller. She takes the reader on adventures growing up on Yuin Country, South Coast NSW right through to the dancefloors of Oxford Street in the Early 90’s during the height of the AIDS epidemic and across the globe to tracking school. Have tissues on hand!

It’s been twenty years since her mother was photographed, blood-soaked, outside the family home. A famous TV food personality, she fled the country. Since that time, the girl has grown up. She’s bought an apartment, learned her own cooking style, fallen in love. She lives a quiet life, working as a copywriter for a health insurance company. She’s found happiness, finally.

But strange things are in the air. Her easygoing boyfriend has started sleeping with men. Her mother is selling the infamous family home. And a glamorous, pregnant neighbour has moved into the apartment downstairs, calling into question everything the girl believes about her own desires.

Among conspiracies, dubious loyalties, and mercenary impulses, how do we work out who is worthy of our devotion and who is just a fan? Shirley charts a search for meaning in a world where the fracturing of ambitions – work and purpose, real estate and home, family and love – has left us uncertain how to recognise ourselves.