Winner of several prestigious prizes, The Spare Room is extraordinary writer Helen Garner's intense, moving investigation of the boundaries and limits of a lifelong friendship.As the novel opens, Helen lovingly prepares the spare room in her home for her dear friend Nicola, who is coming to visit for three weeks while receiving controversial treatment for late-stage cancer. From the moment Nicola staggers off the plane, gaunt and hoarse but still somehow grand, Helen becomes her nurse, her guardian angel, and her stony judge. The Spare Room tells an unforgettable story full of complex humour, rage, and compassion.

Helen Garner was born in Geelong, Australia, in 1942. She has been published novels, stories, nonfiction, and journalism since 1977, when her first novel, Monkey Grip, appeared. She was awarded Australia's richest literary prize, the Melbourne Prize for Literature, in 2006. She lives in Melbourne.

Helen Garner's profile page

• Long-listed, IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
• Short-listed, Commonwealth Writers' Prize - Best Book