The Quiet and the Loud

OUR HOPELESS, HOPEFUL WORLD

A novel about the contours of friendship, family, forgiveness, trauma and love that explores the stories we suppress and the stories we speak - and the healing that comes when we voice the things we've kept quiet for so long.

George's life is loud. On the water, though, with everything hushed above and below, she is steady, silent. Then her estranged dad says he needs to talk, and George's past begins to wake up, looping around her ankles, trying to drag her under.

Everything is a blaring, blazing mess. Could Calliope, the girl who has just cartwheeled into George's world and shot it through with brilliant, dazzling colour, be her calm among the chaos?

• SHORTLISTED QUEENSLAND LITERARY AWARDS GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY YOUNG ADULT BOOK AWARD 2023
• SHORTLISTED FOR THE VICTORIAN PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARDS WRITING FOR YOUNG ADULTS 2024
• SHORTLISTED FOR THE CBCA BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR: OLDER READERS 2024
• SHORTLISTED FOR THE ABIA BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR OLDER CHILDREN (AGES 13+) 2024

About the Author

Helena Fox lives by the ocean on Dharawal Country in Wollongong, Australia. A novelist, poet and writing mentor, Helena runs creative writing workshops for people of all ages. She is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College in the US, and can be found mostly on Instagram @helenafoxoz, posting about kindness, the sky and the sea. How It Feels to Float was Helena's acclaimed, award-winning debut novel.