The Weekend (novel)

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The Weekend
The Weekend book cover.jpg
Author Charlotte Wood
GenreFiction
Publisher Allen & Unwin
Publication date
October 2019
Publication placeAustralia
Pages272
ISBN 9781760292010

The Weekend is a 2019 novel by Australian author Charlotte Wood. The novel explores how a group of elderly women respond to the death of one of their close friends. [1] The novel was written as part of Wood's fellowship as Writer in Residence at the Charles Perkins Centre, where she was engaged to write about the issue of aging. [2]

Contents

Summary

The novel follows a group of four friends in their 70s — former restaurant owner Jude, writer Wendy, actress Adele, and Sylvie. The novel unfolds over the course of a single Christmas weekend shortly after Sylvie's death. Her three friends spend the weekend at her beach house cleaning out her belongings, where they process their grief and experience tensions in their friendship.

Reception

The Weekend received positive reviews. In a review in the Sydney Review of Books , Sophia Barnes praised Wood's compelling characterisation of the three women. [2] Kerryn Goldsworthy described Wood's technique as "masterly" in a review in the Sydney Morning Herald , praising both the quality of her writing and her exploration of the "precarious nature of womanhood". [3] In a review in The Observer , Holly Williams wrote that the book was an enjoyable read, but that it focused more on the negatives of aging and friendship than on the joys. [4] The novel was described in The Times as a "warm, wise story about friendship", [5] and received positive reviews in both The Guardian and The Guardian Australia . [6] [7]

Adaptation

The Weekend was adapted into a play by Australian playwright Sue Smith. The play debuted in 2023 at the Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney, directed by Sarah Goodes and starring Belinda Giblin as Adele, Toni Scanlan as Jude and Melita Jurisic as Wendy. The theatre adaptation received positive reviews in The Guardian and Australian Book Review . [8] [9]

Awards

Awards for The Weekend
YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2020 Indie Book Awards Fiction Book of the Year Shortlisted [10]
Australian Book Industry Awards Literary Fiction Book of the YearWon [11]
Stella Prize Shortlisted [12]
Miles Franklin Literary Award Longlisted [13]
ALS Gold Medal Shortlisted [14]
Prime Minister's Literary Awards FictionShortlisted [15]
2021 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Christina Stead Prize for FictionShortlisted [16]

References

  1. "The Weekend". Allen & Unwin. Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  2. 1 2 Barnes, Sophia (14 October 2019). "The Ghost Creature: The Weekend by Charlotte Wood". Sydney Review of Books. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  3. Goldsworthy, Kerryn (11 October 2019). "Friends struggle with loss in Charlotte Wood's The Weekend". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  4. Williams, Holly (14 June 2020). "The Weekend by Charlotte Wood review – intimate and insightful". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  5. Lowdon, Claire (4 July 2020). "The Weekend by Charlotte Wood review — a tragicomedy about three older friends". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  6. Collins, Sara (20 June 2020). "The Weekend by Charlotte Wood review – old age as a state of mutiny". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  7. Williams, Holly (14 June 2020). "The Weekend by Charlotte Wood review – intimate and insightful". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  8. Tongue, Cassie (10 August 2023). "The Weekend review – Charlotte Wood stage adaptation tells of love, loss and ageing". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  9. Monagle, Clare (11 August 2023). "The Weekend: An insightful adaption of Charlotte Wood's novel". Australian Book Review. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  10. "Winners of the 2020 Indie Book Awards Announced". Indie Book Awards. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  11. "2020 Winners". Australian Book Industry Awards. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  12. "The Weekend – Charlotte Wood". Stella Prize. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  13. "Miles Franklin Literary Award". Perpetual. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  14. "ALS Gold Medal". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  15. "Prime Minister's Literary Awards". Creative Australia. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  16. "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2025.