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ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize

Patterns in Nature

Winner of the 2012 Jolley Prize
by •
September 2012, no. 344
ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize

Patterns in Nature

Winner of the 2012 Jolley Prize
by •
September 2012, no. 344

In 1979 in the town of Paradise Lake, women of fifty favour blue knitwear and Peter Jackson cigarettes. They cook sponges without a recipe, don’t mind a brandy and dry, and love their grandchildren with an intensity that takes some of them by surprise. They’re most readily distinguished, one from another, according to their golf handicaps and the generosity of their judgements.

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Sue Hurley

Sue Hurley has an MBA from the University of Melbourne and a Masters of Creative Writing from UTS. Her first novel, Love at the Railway Hotel, was published in 2010, and she is currently working on a second, about a team of corporate crime investigators. She lives in Sydney with her husband and three daughters.

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Comments (3)

  • Sue Hurley conjures up more by what she leaves unsaid. Her delicious descriptions of people and objects filled me with nostalgia. This is a beautiful piece of writing that I read again and again during the days of Covid-19.
    Posted by Julia Alder
    14 May 2020
  • This story moved me. I read it over, and over again.
    Posted by Su
    15 February 2016
  • One gorgeous story... Congratulations!
    Posted by George
    01 August 2014

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