With an introduction by Evie Wyld

The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville is a funny and touching romance between two people who've given up on love. Set in the eccentric little backwater of Karakarook, New South Wales, pop. 1374, it tells the story of Douglas Cheeseman, a gawky engineer with jug-handle ears, and Harley Savage, a woman altogether too big and too abrupt for comfort.

Harley is in Karakarook to foster 'Heritage', and Douglas is there to pull down the quaint old Bent Bridge. From day one, they're on a collision course. But out of this unpromising conjunction of opposites, something unexpected happens: sometimes even better than perfection.

Prizes

Winner of Orange Prize for Fiction 2001 (UK)

Grenville makes awkward atmospheres and fumbling encounters wonderfully vivid. Read it and cringe * The Times *
From these two reticent characters, besieged by two lifetimes of regret, doubt and dismay, Grenville manufactures an extraordinary comedy of manners, made all more powerful by her own reticence as a writer * Guardian *
Outrageously entertaining * Daily Mail *
Mined throughout with little pockets of danger and depth * Guardian *
A truly amazing writer -- Rosie Boycott, chair of the Orange Prize jury
An honest and compelling celebration of imperfection * Observer *
A funny and touching romance * Daily Express *
Being the only book voted for the Orange Prize shortlist by both the official judging panel, always an all-female affair, and a shadow panel of men sitting for the first time, was testament to The Idea of Perfection's universal appeal * Australian News *
Grenville has created a unique exploration of human weaknesses and how combining these weaknesses can make a strength * Irish Independent *
A funny, off-beat love story * Daily Mail *
A very fine, albeit terrifying, writer . . . another assured and intelligent performance . . . very funny, skillfully written but also very moving . . . brilliant comic set pieces * Irish Times *
This is an arresting and penetrating read . . . an honest and compelling celebration of imperfection * Observer *
An exquisite, minutely observed study of two people meeting in their middle years . . . A truly amazing writer -- Rosie Boycott, Chair of the Orange Prize 2001 Judging Panel
[Grenville is] always self-possessed, graceful, ingratiating . . . an amusing, touching, occasionally macabre tale * Spectator *
The Idea of Perfection is a very fine novel . . . Grenville's paean to the heroism of imperfection could easily slide into sentimentality. That it doesn't is a testament to her skill. There's nothing trite about the violent, sensual colour in her descriptions of the Australian bush, or her compassion for her eccentric characters * Times *
Mined throughout with little pockets of danger and depth * Guardian *
It's an outrageously entertaining book - witty, tender and full of a no-nonsense lyricism . . . by alerting us to novels this good, the [Orange] Prize more than justifies its existence * Daily Mail *
Grenville makes awkward atmospheres and fumbling encounters wonderfully vivid. Read it and cringe * Times *
Quirky and spirited * Independent *
A writer of extraordinary talent * New York Times Book Review *

Kate Grenville is one of Australia’s finest writers. Her bestselling novel The Secret River has been published in more than twenty countries. It has received numerous awards, including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Miles Franklin Literary Award. The companion memoir, Searching for the Secret River, was released in 2006.

The Idea of Perfection won Britain’s prestigious Orange Prize for Fiction, and her other novels include Sarah Thornhill, The Lieutenant, Lilian’s Story, Dark Places and Joan Makes History.