Author(s): Heather Rose

Biography

A deeply personal collection filled with reflections on love, death, creativity and healing, from the award-winning author of Bruny and The Museum of Modern Love. And then it occurred to me that nothing bad ever happens here. Every human life is perfect in its own way. We cannot understand that, because it seems like there is so much suffering. But maybe every life is perfect for we need to know and learn and see and understand. Even when we don't understand, even when the suffering seems unfathomable, does some part of us understand? Could that really be true, I wondered? Nothing bad ever happens here... My body was shaking violently now. I held onto the rock beneath me as if I was clinging to life itself. Maybe I was. I clung to this life, my life, with all its imperfections and mistakes, with all its joy. I didn't want to go anywhere. After a shocking family tragedy transforms Heather Rose's Tasmanian childhood, she becomes 'a seeker of life and all its mysteries'. Heather has spent a lifetime testing boundaries and exploring the connections between love and death, the natural world and the body. Her questing spirit and her strong affinity with nature have inspired and driven her throughout her life-and deeply sustained her in times of darkness. Her words will bring wonder, light and comfort to all who read this astonishing book. Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here is a luminous, compelling and utterly surprising memoir by the bestselling author of Stella Prize-winner The Museum of Modern Love and Bruny. Praise for Heather Rose: 'A glorious novel, meditative and special in a way that defies easy articulation.' Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites on The Museum of Modern Love 'An entertaining and thought-provoking romp with authentic dialogue with characters that are all complex and multidimensional...Rose writes with emotional intuition [and] has that eminently readable interiority that only a novel can bring.' Louise Swinn, The Saturday Paper on Bruny 'Audacious and beautiful.' Dominic Smith, author of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos on The Museum of Modern Love 'Captivating ... a gem of a novel.' Library Journal, starred review on The Museum of Modern Love 'Heather Rose takes no prisoners in this hugely entertaining satirical novel.' Readings on Bruny 'Part political thriller, part family saga, part love letter to Tasmania, this is [Rose's] most ambitious novel to date.' Australian Book Review on Bruny 'Believable, relatable people, families, romance, grief and the terser political narrative all come together with magnificent brio.' The Sydney Morning Herald on Bruny 'Deeply involving ... profound ... emotionally rich and thought-provoking.' Booklist, starred review on The Museum of Modern Love 'From the first pages of The River Wife, the reader is struck by the beauty of the prose. There is a fluid brook-like quality to the writing. (A celebration of) the beauty of nature and the enduring power of story.' The Age   'With rare subtlety and humanity, this novel relocates the difficult path to wonder in us all.' The Christina Stead Prize judges on The Museum of Modern Love