A Suitcase in the Desert

'The humour and the entertaining bits make one laugh out loud, but underlying this is the layer of pathos and longing. Hyperbole confronts understatement; sensitive and poetic passages of intense sympathy contrast with brutal reality.'

‘Nostalgic as well as immediate… and thoroughly engrossing.’

‘So much of it seemed very familiar to my own struggles and wow moments.’

‘I particularly empathised with the days which for no reason at all become mood days and that thing about times where nothing “happens”.’

‘Thank you for your story and your style.’

‘Your book is an affirmation of something or other that is probably too big to put a label on.’

‘Wanderlust talks about things that people think but do not say.’

‘An utterly readable account of a memorable ‘ordinary’ environment. Uncle Vic is a ‘funny bugger’ with a Conradian outlook. ‘Uncle’ Stan is wonderfully disreputable. A charming book…as tender a maternal portrait as you will ever read.’

‘I absolutely enjoyed your book and couldn’t put it down. I had so many laughs along the way.’ 

‘An absolutely delightful read from beginning to end. Funny, moving, insightful – and your authorial voice instantly appealed to me.’

'Philosophical but not academic. A good read. A tribute to women.'

‘Your book has helped me understand the men in my life so much more… and recognise the enormous value of parenting and mentoring the unique nature of boys.’

'What a mixture! An awkward Aussie, a few screwball mates and four fascinating women. I don't think I've ever read a book before that so revealingly describes the influence a woman can have on a man - for better and for worse!'

‘Had me in fits of laughter in the train en route to work.’

'The world that Nicholls evokes is vivid, full of laughter, triumph and tears.’

‘I laughed the whole afternoon as I read it. How delightful in this grim world to find such humour.’ 

‘Dry, witty, sad, funny and amazingly frank.’

‘Paints a vivid picture of a colourful extended family. A compelling tale.’

‘Some of the book was comfortably close to home for me: some uncomfortably so.’

‘This is the first time in my long life that I have felt IMPELLED to convey to a writer my opinion of his/her work. I began reading A Saucepan in the Sky at 6 am and finished it at 11.30 am. Couldn’t put it down. Haven’t been able to do anything else since then except think about it and read extracts to my husband over tea and lunch breaks.’

‘Never a dull moment.’

‘A classic. A lovely book.’ 

‘I’m definitely going to be reading your book over and over because as well as the history behind it there are the constant stories of mischief and humour.’

‘A Saucepan in the Sky has a lot more going for it than just a great title. Nicholls gets the child’s voice just right, no mean feat without getting mawkish.'

‘Details the mapping of a moral universe…a wry, humorous approach to living. ‘Uncle’ Stan is my all-time favourite character – a man with a unique worldview. I thoroughly recommend it.’

‘I reluctantly read the last page and immediately wished for more.’

'Many of us have memories of our own innocence abroad.'

‘Simple experiences imbued with charm… dilemmas presented clearly in a way that should strike chords of recognition…this is worth reading’

‘I really liked the subtext as well as the story.’

‘Comic and loving…the reader is hooked from the beginning. You’ll want to raise your glass to Brian and his gang of relatives.'

‘A wonderful story beautifully told.’

‘It has everything: humour, pathos, history, laughter, tears.’ 

'Highly entertaining.'

‘An absolutely delightful read…fascinating.’

‘Brian Nicholls creates an array of memorable characters. A lack of sentimentality is a strength of both McCourt’s (Angela’s Ashes) and Nicholls' memoir, but the national humour and idioms of A Saucepan in the Sky stand out as unmistakably Australian.’

'I enjoyed A Saucepan in the Sky immensely – it stirred filed-away memories and refreshed the affection held for early relationships.’

‘I liked the surprise of it, the feeling that anything could happen. There is a time in life when one enters any open door. I guess that’s how you grow up.’ 

‘I really did enjoy it and – the mark of a good book – I definitely did not want it to end.’