Simon MacDonald

It's a really, really beautiful book.

In fact, I think it's one of the best pieces of Australian fiction that I've read in the last few years.

The central character is a woman called Ruby Jenkins.

We meet her during World War II when she's met a young man called Arthur.

They very quickly got married because he's been sent off to New Guinea to war.

And then two years later, he comes back and their married life really begins.

Much of it is set in Adelaide and we see Ruby become a wife and a mother and a gardener and various other things.

And Ruby is a person who always does the right thing, tries to do everything as well as she can.

But within her, there's a sense of some dissatisfaction that perhaps there's something missing in her life, although she can't quite identify what it is.

This book, Melting Moments, is a beautiful portrait of a woman over a 50-year period of her life.

When the book ends, it's near the end of Ruby's life.

She's in her 80s.

And it's an excellent book that I really recommend to anybody who loves great Australian writing.

It's historical fiction, most of it, although, as I say, it ends up in the modern age.

But I've enjoyed it tremendously.

Thank you so much, Cassie and Kate, for having me.

It's been terrific talking to you.

Lovely to chat with you as well, Simon.