Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser

“Theory & Practiceis a thrillingly original hybrid work that seeks truthful answers to the most difficult questions of the dayquestions about the nature of love, art, and desire, about the thorny cultural legacy of colonialism and the unappeasable human yearning for connection.” Sigrid Nunez, author ofThe Vulnerables

A new novel of startling intelligence from prizewinning Australian author Michelle de Kretser, following a writer looking back on her young adulthood and grappling with what happens when life smashes through the boundaries of art
Its 1986, and beautiful, radical ideas are in the air. The narrator ofTheory & Practice, a young woman originally from Sri Lanka, arrives in Melbourne for graduate school to research the novels of Virginia Woolf. In the bohemian neighborhood of St. Kilda she meets artists, activists, studentsand Kit. He claims to be in a deconstructed relationship. They become lovers, and the narrators feminism comes up against her jealousy. Meanwhile, an entry in Woolfs diary upends what the narrator knows about her literary idol, and throws her own work into disarray.

What happens when our desires run contrary to our beliefs? What should we do when the failings of revered figures come to light? Who is shamed when the truth is told? Michelle de Kretsers new novel offers a spellbinding meditation on the moral complexities that arise in the gap between our values and our lives.