Eating Out and other stories by Natalie Scott (1995)

This is a collection of stories by a well-respected Australian writer and I continue, as I read through her oeuvre, to see why she has that reputation. To someone of my limited reading in Australian literature she belongs to a group of writers who deal with the well-heeled in the main, slightly from the inside I think, and who have a comic tendency which is overt only occasionally. The other main member of this enclave I can name is the brilliant Jessica Anderson, and perhaps the Elizabeth Harrower of Down in the City, The Catherine Wheel and The Watch Tower, but not so much The Long Prospect. I have read that Shirley Hazzard has a similar feel, and no doubt there are others. These stories all have food somewhere in their content, some only peripherally, and there are recipes for mentioned dishes placed after each piece. Many of the stories are good; two are outstanding. Plut-Nut is the clear winner, where a slightly snobbish family are hoist on their own petard at a 'meet the prospective son-in-law' dinner. The comedy is very satisfying, subtly handled and arrow-accurate. Desert Song is also stunning - a departure too in that a homeless man is the main character - some great rhythms. Scott occasionally slips a little into over-egged description, where the mood goes a bit stiff. This was self-published and is long out of print - definitely a candidate for rediscovery and a more central placing in its national literature.