Join us at Paperchain Manuka to hear Geraldine Mellet, author of Things I Cannot Say, in conversation with Michael Brissenden

Tracey Read is well and truly trapped. A globetrotting engineer in her thirties, as adept at fixing failing projects as she is at avoiding commitment, she's now paralysed after a major accident and warehoused in an aged care facility she nicknames The Last Resort. For the first time in her life Tracey can't just get up and go - not unless she channels her former self and stages a breakout.

Forced to interact with others who live and work in the 'home', Tracey overcomes her own prejudices to find pockets of kindness and community, and with each small moment of independence she claws back, she begins to recognise herself again.

But as her analytical brain comes back online, Tracey notices something darker going on. When her suspicions are ignored by the people in charge, it's left to her to speak up, a tricky proposition given her voice disappeared on the day of the accident and no one knows if it's coming back.

Underestimated, ignored, and facing the biggest challenge of her life, can Tracey expose the wrongdoing happening behind closed doors? And if she does, will she become the engine of her own story, or put everything at risk?

PRAISE FOR THINGS I CANNOT SAY

'Mellet manages an amazing feat - a feisty character that has the reader simultaneously feeling shaken, punching the air, furious at the system and wryly smiling at the dark humour. A poignant story about what it is to be human - without shying away from the difficult stuff yet ultimately full of hope.' Anne Buist, co-author of The Glass House

'Savage, brilliant and funny - Tracey Read is one of the most alive characters I've come across in recent contemporary literature. Things I Cannot Say is original and thrilling. It stayed with me and made me see the world differently, which is about the best thing you can ask from a novel; Geraldine Mellet is a standout new voice.' Kathryn Heyman, author of Circle of Wonders

'With wry wit and dark irony, Geraldine Mellet has crafted a novel that resonates with authenticity.' Shelley Davidow, author of The Girl with the Violin

'I loved this beautiful book, imbued as it is with heartache and humour, sharpness and wit, tragedy and hope.' Suzanne Leal, author of The Watchful Wife

'This utterly compelling story and its cast of memorable characters stole my life for several days and I marvelled afterwards at what had been achieved and how I had been changed.' Carrie Cox, author of Storylines

Geraldine Mellet's love of story began in childhood with a hammock and a never-ending tower of books and has been the through-line in her life ever since. After a degree in French and Japanese and a sideline in Bunraku puppetry, Geraldine was spectacularly unemployable until she found her happy place in broadcast journalism. In addition to twenty-five years in radio and television at the ABC, story was also central to her work as a disability rights advocate and coordinator for both the Every Australian Counts campaign for the NDIS and The Lives We Lead social media project.

She has also co-written Whose Hand is This, the non-fiction account of how a WA nurse and her husband reinvented their lives after a severe cerebral stroke, as well as being a newspaper columnist and writer of children's TV drama. She lives, reads and writes on Whadjuk Noongar land in Perth, WA.

Michael Brissenden has published both fiction and non-fiction books. He has published four crime thrillers – The List (2017), Dead Letters (2021), Smoke (2024) and, most recently, DUST (2025). A new novel is coming in 2027. Before he filled his time writing books Michael was a political journalist and foreign correspondent with the ABC for 35 years.

This event is free but as space is limited please book to secure your place.

Contact the host of Geraldine Mellet at Paperchain Manuka

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