Taking Shelter


Taking Shelter is a novel by Australian writer Jessica Anderson. It was originally published by Penguin Books in Australia in 1989.

Synopsis

Set in Sydney in the late 1980s the novel follows Beth who breaks off her engagement to Miles when she discovers he is gay, and then plunges into a passionate and uneasy affair with Marcus.

Critical reception

Veronica Sen, writing in The Canberra Times, noted: "In her most recent novel Jessica Anderson explores contemporary Sydney where the pace of life exacerbates the moral confusion, family conflict and personal stress so characteristic of modern society...In her witty portraiture of the young and not-so-young confronting problems of freedom and responsibility and self-understanding, Anderson demonstrates what she sees as the primary function of literature: the need to engage, to entertain. In the realm of storytelling she does, indeed, 'make something' of value."

Publication history

After its original publication in 1989 in Australia by publisher Penguin Books the novel was later reprinted as follows:
  • Viking, Australia, 1990
  • Untapped, Australian, 2021

Awards