Winner of the 2023 Finlay Lloyd 20/40 prize.<br/><br/>'Their eyes met and Clarinda felt a seismic shift of understanding, one she could not name; she held Dotty's gaze with the silent request: Please, don't make any further fuss or they might call an ambulance, or the police, and that would be one humiliation far too far. For them both.<br/><br/>'But the wild, fiery anger in Dotty's eyes seemed to have extinguished itself of its own accord; she only frowned again and asked: ''''Don't I know you?''''<br/><br/>From the judging panel:<br/>Why this book is different. Two young women, brought up to expect conventional lives, are thrown together in unexpected circumstances. Each has suffered a devastating loss that challenges their belief in life and themselves. It's rare to come across a work of deep psychological insight conveyed with such verve and lightness of touch.<br/><br/>Why we liked it. Kelly sweeps the reader into the lives and passions of her two central characters and into the bustling city streets of Sydney in the 1920s. A powerfully moving book that sparkles with vitality.