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How to End a Story

Diaries 1995-1998

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How to End a Story

By: Helen Garner
Narrated by: Helen Garner
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About this listen

Helen Garner’s third volume of diaries is an account of a woman fighting to hold on to a marriage that is disintegrating around her.

Living with a powerfully ambitious writer who is consumed by his work, and trying to find a place for her own spirit to thrive, she rails against the confines. At the same time, she is desperate to find the truth in their relationship—and the truth of her own self.

This is a harrowing story, a portrait of the messy, painful, dark side of love lost, of betrayal and sadness and the sheer force of a woman’s anger. But it is also a story of resilience and strength, strewn with sharp insight, moments of joy and hope, the immutable ties of motherhood and the regenerative power of a room of one’s own.

2023, National Biography Award, Short-listed

2023, ASA Medal, Winner

2025, Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, Winner

©2021 Helen Garner. First published by The Text Publishing Company (P)2022 Bolinda Publishing Art & Literature Authors Diaries & Journals Memoirs, Diaries & Correspondence

Critic reviews

"Helen Garner is one of the lords of language in our midst and something more." (The Australian)

"The spirituality of these diaries is worth a library of high-minded theology." (Sydney Morning Herald)

"The ordinary in these diaries—the daily, the diurnal, the stumbled-upon, the breathing in and out—is turned into something else through the writer’s extraordinary craft." (Australian Book Review)

All stars
Most relevant
Helen Garner reads her work brilliantly. I love the observations of daily life, her passion and honesty, and the way she evolves in her relationship (no spoilers).
Because these are chronological excerpts from a life, we are held in suspense as the narrative unfolds. I couldn’t stop listening and now that it’s over I’m bereft, but also satisfied. Garner really does know how to end a story.

Loved this

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Really unsure how this won the Bailey Gifford prize. At times fascinating, but mostly utterly mundane.

The narration is great, but the story is weird

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