Written from teenager girl Fuzzy Macs perspective, Grace Beside Me is a quirky, warmly rendered story of home and family life in a small town. The black&write! judges remarked on the authentic feel of the Indigenous home life of Fuzzy Mac and her grandparents her guardians since the death of her mother.
Awkward episodes of teen rivalry and romance sit happily alongside the mystery of Grans visions and an encounter with a ghost. The story sits against a backdrop of amazing characters including the holocaust survivor who went to school with Einstein; the sleazy, once-good-looking Mayor; the little priest always rushing off to bury someone before the heat gets to them; the wife basher up the road; Lolas Forest, dedicated to Lola, a traditional Aboriginal woman who met Ned Kelly and Nan and Pop. Grace Beside Me interweaves the mundane with the profound and the spiritual it is full of wisdom and good advice (Fuzzy calls Nan the queen of all knowing) on everything from how to to sit a while in the bush and connect with country to how to properly hang out the washing.
