1999. Winter. Bondi. Harry’s been on the streets so long he could easily forget what time is. So Harry keeps an eye on it. Every morning. Then he heads to the beach to chat with the gulls. Or he wanders through the streets in search of food, clothes, Jules. When the girl on the bus sees him, lonely and cold in the bus shelter that he calls home, she thinks about how she can help. She decides to write a symphony for him.
So begins a poignant and gritty tale of homelessness and shelter, of the realities of loneliness and hunger, and of the hopes and dreams of those who often go unnoticed on our streets. This is the story of two outcasts – one a young woman struggling to find her place in an alien world, one an older man seeking refuge and solace from a life in tatters. It is also about the transformative power of care and friendship, and the promise of escape that music holds.
An uplifting and heartbreaking story that demands empathy. Amid the struggles to belong and fit in, we are reminded that small acts of kindness matter. And big dreams are possible.
She lies in the bed and she is sick. Sicker than she’s ever been. But with the sickness comes a pain and in that pain she finds a glory. And it’s the glory that gets her through. When her body heals and she is out of hospital and home with her family, she needs to seek out a new glory, a stronger glory. She finds it in starvation. A story of one girl’s struggle with herself, her life and her family. And the story of a family’s struggle with a daughter/sister they can never hope to understand.
Youthful suicide, anorexia and drug abuse are dangerous topics for the novelist to handle … Playwright Sarah Brill boldly and successfully tackles all three in this first novel … A writer to watch.
–Lucy Sussex, The Age
Sarah speaks from the inside of a muddled teenager’s head. And which teenager is not muddled? Every parent, however confident must read this book – it will open up their minds and help them understand their children. If you think you know your kid – this book will expose the reality- you really don’t.
–Amazon, Reader review
Plays
B.O.R.E.D.
Beatrice is bored. House sitting doesn’t provide much entertainment. Her only companion is a canary who’s not particularly interested in being entertaining. Then the men start coming out of the wardrobe and things start to look a little more interesting. The men are all lost and looking for someone to tell them how to get where they’re going. Lucky Beatrice knows there’s nowhere to go.
FASHION TIPS FOR THE YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL
It’s Jane’s wedding day. As she prepares for the most important day of her life she imparts her words of wisdom. Because Jane knows everything there is to know about being beautiful, about being a woman. She’s worked her whole life to become one. Fashion Tips For The Young and Beautiful is the story of one woman’s fight to get her man and still look good in the process. Jane runs a school, a school of fashion and all that belongs with it, for boys who are serious about being girls.As Jane struggles through the day’s inevitable catastrophes, she tells us how she came to be where she is and of the obstacles she must still overcome. Told through monologue and song.
WHO THE FUCK IS ERICA PRICE
Erica Price is a lonely poet and a busy prostitute. In her desperation for companionship she dreams of a better world. In her fight for the revolution she is struggling to be free. Through observation and experience Erica constructs a unique picture of her world. She creates a vision of the world as it should be. She studies her street and her world in anticipation of the changes to come.
The men who visit often interrupt her thoughts or undermine her beliefs; occasionally they strengthen her dream. Some of these men have already journeyed, some are preparing. Most won’t bother. Now that the revolution is coming, there is no return for Erica Price. To continue her life without change means failure. To change her life means she could lose everything.