Those hazy, lazy days

AFTER January is one of those books you wish you had written yourself.

Alex Delaney is spending a lazy summer on the Sunshine Coast, the same holiday he takes with his mother every year. The only difference is this year he’s in limbo between high school and university – if he gets in that is.

Alex’s days are consumed by swimming, watching the cricket, reading and, most of all, fretting about his uni offer which will be released in 17 days.

But everything changes when Alex meets F, a relaxed surfer-girl who goes with the flow.

Suddenly the rest of January doesn’t seem like it will be so boring.

Alex is drawn into F’s life which is the polar opposite of his; a simple life of surfing and making handicrafts to sell at the Caloundra markets.

What’s more, F has no grand plans for university or a high flying career.

Originally released in 1996, After January has been re-released as a special edition, combined for the first time with the short story Juliet, which was written by Nick Earls in the early 90s, and makes an appearance in After January as a story Alex has written.

As with many of Nick Earls’ books, the reader is pulled into a life where the familiar becomes extraordinary, and this tale of first love and life on the brink of adulthood is no different, making you wish it was possible to go back to that final summer before adulthood and its responsibilities kicked in. –

K ylie Triggell

University of Queensland Press

RRP $19.95.