Thur, April 9, 2026

This post is entered into #AtoZChallenge2026 April blogging, as its topic centers on G for Garner, Helen. Garner is the surname. However, since I lack an author whose surname starts with H, I’m using Helen for Letter H.

As mentioned in my #atozChallengeThemeReveal post, my main theme is book reviews and its subsidiary is miscellaneous topics. I’ll add that comprises of haiku and art.

Helen Garner is a journalist who lives in Melbourne, Australia. She has a daughter, and became divorced while her child was still young. Her novel. “Monkey Grip” won the National Book Council Award, in Australia, and it was published in 1977.

Helen Garner was born on Nov. 7 1942, and is now 83 years old. She was once married to three husbands, but divorced all of them.

Bill Garner (m. 1967–1971)

Jean-Jacques Portail (m. 1980–1985), 

Murray Bail (m. 1992–2000).

Garner’s diaries are snippets of her entries, in her writing book. They are not daily records. Here are some of her more notable entries for 1978.

Barely 1 year after her Monkey Grip was published, she wondered if she was a one trick pony. (Garner, p. 3)

She searched and discovered her cure for her homesickness and ennui – walking. (Garner, p. 5)

She liked the crocuses and daffodils in Parc de Bagatelle. (Garner, p. 9)

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Amazon sells this cover of How To End A Story (Helen Garner’s Diaries)

A to Z Challenge 2026 posts:

• https://booksreviewsandmore.com/a-z-challenge-2026-theme-reveal-book-reviews-miscellaneous/
• https://booksreviewsandmore.com/book-of-lives-m-atwood/

Blogging Tips

I’m co-hosting a bloghop with many others. You can see samples at https://artmater.com/?s=ttot

If you’re excited to become a co-host, please leave a comment here and I’ll connect you to the host, Clark. He’ll send you the Linky codes to use in your blog.

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I’m open to collaborations like bloghop, prompt writing bloghop, blog challenge bloghop, book review bloghop, buying indie books (nonfiction & SFW), art prompt bloghop. If you’re looking for participants for any of these, please leave your link in a comment.