Australian Love Stories

The literature of romance is a varied as it is abundant. The words 'love story' suggest the kind of story that begins with a glance and ends with a sunset or a trip down the aisle. But reflections on Cathy and Heathcliff, Romeo and Juliet, Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas introduce mythic lovers who could not be further from the happy stereotype. The great love stories that everyone remembers are those in which desire confronts and challenges the social order and eventually - sometimes spectacularly - loses. This anthology contains both kinds of stories, and some others as well. Many subvert the conventions of the happy ending or the grand tragedy, and in doing so tell us something about love, and storytelling, in Australia. Hardship, distance, and history have all played their part in the evolution of Australian relations and gender roles. Kerryn Goldsworthy has selected thirty-five stories by different authors, all concerned with romantic or sexual love, from moments of intimacy and ecstasy to rejection and betrayal.