Book: Paperback | 5.43 x 7.75in | 416 pages | ISBN 9780142002858 | 28 Oct 2003 | Penguin | 18 - AND UP
A quirky, touching romance celebrating something even better than perfection
Harley Savage is a plain woman, a part-time museum curator and quilting expert with three failed marriages and a heart condition. Douglas Cheeseman is a shy, gawky engineer with jug-handle ears, one marriage gone sour, and a crippling lack of physical courage. They meet in the little Australian town of Karakarook, where Harley has arrived to help the town build a heritage museum and Douglas to demolish the quaint old Bent Bridge. From the beginning they are on a collision course until the unexpected sets them both free.
Elegantly and compassionately told, The Idea of Perfection is reminiscent of the work of Carol Shields and Annie Proulx and reveals Kate Grenville as "a writer of extraordinary talent" (The New York Times Book Review).
"An amusing and moving story of unlikely love." (Atlantic Monthly)
"Fluid and funny . . . an incandescent novel." (Boston Globe)
"A sweet read." (Entertainment Weekly)
Orange Prize for Fiction
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