Liz Byrski Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Liz Byrski is an Australian literature and fiction author and media personality with more than five decades of experience in the Australian and British media. She has authored more than ten novels and over a dozen nonfiction works and her work has been featured in international and national magazines and newspapers. During the 1990s, she was executive producer and broadcaster in Perth, where she worked with ABC Radio before she was hired as an advisor to one of the ministers in the State government of Western Australia. Liz went to the Notre Dame Convent in Surrey from where she graduated in 1960 before she proceeded to Crawley College and the Wall Hall College of Education from where she would get her doctorate on feminist popular fiction. Byrski got her first job working as a secretary for a small firm of exterminators in Sussex at the very young age of 16. She would then move on work on the Horley Advertiser, an affiliate of Surrey Mirror Newspapers as a journalist before she got a job working at the Curtin University’s Faculty of Humanities as an Associate Professor. Liz decided to take freelance writing when she had a lot of time on her hands when she started a family.

Byrski always dreamed of becoming a fiction author but for more than four decades she spent her time as a journalist and author of non-fiction works. She was interested in writing the stories of older women since she has always enjoyed such stories growing up and even in adulthood. She felt that she learned a lot from such stories and that they were instrumental in making her the woman she is today. When Liz was in her fifties, she found it hard to find any fiction works for women her age or older and thought maybe she should cater to that demographic by writing them. What she admired about these stories is that they have a wealth of ideas and issues to explore and stories to tell particularly about adult women’s’ lives. She has said that whenever she reads a novel, she loves she will feel like she is interacting with friends and that she is friends with the author. She writes about social realism since that is what she loves to read. In the years since Liz began writing her novels, she has experienced a lot of evolution. Her characters have become more fleshed out and have aged along with her though she has asserted that writing her most popular novel “A Month of Sundays” was harder than writing her debut “Gang of Four.”

In 1981, Liz and her family moved to Australia where she got a job in Perth as a freelance writer/journalist. In Australia, she worked for several publications including The West Australian, The Australian, The Woman Writer, New Idea, the Australian Financial Review, Cosmopolitan, and Homes and Living. For several years, she worked with ABC Radio as a broadcaster and was best known for “The Grapevine,” a program that she hosted with Peter Holland. She currently splits her time between Fremantle and Perth and when she is not working, she spends much of her time walking, swimming, writing, go to the movies, meeting a friend or two for tea or coffee, and reading. She also works as a professor at the university and hence writing has increasingly become a juggling act, particularly as she grows older.

Liz Bryski’s “Gang of Four” is the story of four women Sally Isabel, Robin and Grace usually referred to as “The Gang.” They are responsible, professional and mature women in their fifties or approaching it with families that have made a habit of regularly meeting for lunch. Isabel breaks tradition when she decides that she wants a year away from her friends, following an overwhelming pudding Christmas catering and the 34 traditional turkey preparation for her family. As expected, her friends are disappointed and even angry about her decision but they have to let her follow her heart. She intends to retrace her mother’s footsteps by spending a year in Europe. Her action causes a ripple effect as her friends start examining their own circumstances and realize that they may also need a break from their busy lives. It is a story with refreshing perspectives on life that follows the lives of middle-aged women who have to deal with a range of issues form aging parents with failing mental and physical health. They also have to deal with dependent families and these responsibilities often make them feel suffocated.

Liz Byrski’s “Food, Sex & Money” tells the story of Bonnie Logan whose husband Jeff died in mysterious circumstances in their home in Switzerland. Devastated, she had decided to leave Zurich and go back to the home she grew up in, in Melbourne. Her return to Australia sparks a series of events that are sure to change the lives of Sylvia and Fran who are two of her best friends she had not seen for decades. It will also change the lives of many of her family she had longed to see for all those years she had been in Europe. Fran Whittaker is a divorced and overweight mother of two who makes a living writing about food. Sylvia Fleming is the wife of Colin Fleming that had decided to quit working in the fashion design industry to support her husband’s pastoral ministry. Meanwhile, Irene Master who is mother to Bonnie is feeling oppressed by the presence of her daughter. As such, she supports and encourages the old boat shed that Bonnie intends to refurbish and so do Sylvia and Fran. The novel is full of real characters that would not be out of place in a café or supermarket.

“A Month of Sundays” by Liz Bryski tells the story of Simone, Ros, Judy, and Adele who are friends that had been meeting at an online book club for more than a decade. While they have been communicating online for years they have never physically met. Adele who is one of the most popular members of the club has been approached to house sit a beautiful cottage in the Blue Mountains. She thinks it would be a perfect opportunity to meet her online friends before she retires. It is a great chance to make personal connections and Adele believes her friends will get to enjoy the tranquil county settings, relax and perhaps discuss a book or two. To facilitate their interactions each member has been requested to bring along a favorite novel they believe best explains their character. But to varying degrees, it seems every member of the club has some issues that may turn out to be significant in their lives going forward. By going away on a vacation to read and to analyze their lives, maybe they could make changes that would better their lives as they leave the Blue Mountains.