Tuvalu (novel)

Australian novel by Andrew O'Connor

Tuvalu

First edition

Author| Andrew O'Connor
Language| English
Genre| Novel
Publisher| Allen and Unwin, Australia

Publication date

| 2006
Publication place| Australia
Media type| Print Paperback
Pages| 347 pp
ISBN| 1-74114-871-5
OCLC| 74946085

Dewey Decimal

| A823.4 22
LC Class| PR9619.4.O286 T88 2006

Tuvalu is a 2006 novel by Australian author Andrew O'Connor. It won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award for unpublished manuscripts by writers under 35.

## Plot introduction

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The novel is set mostly in Tokyo and tells the story of a young Australian teacher of English, and his relationship with two women, Tilly, another Australian English teacher, and Mami, a Japanese hotel heiress. It is told in first-person.

## Explanation of the novel's title

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Tuvalu is a small Pacific island nation. It doesn't appear in the novel except as an idea. Tilly describes it to Noah as follows:

> I guess for me Tuvalu's always done the trick. I've never been anywhere near it. I've never even studied it. For all I know it might well have sunk. But that one word's taken on a meaning all of its own. [...] Haven't you ever once looked into the future and pictured a different life for yourself, made it a destination in some abstract way? A place in which you are content and from which you never look forward, except maybe to hope for more of the same?[1]

## Awards

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* 2007: Commonwealth Writers' Prize SE Asia and South Pacific, Best First Novel: Winner
* 2005: The Australian/Vogel Literary Award: Winner

## Reviews

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* Delaney, Brigid (2005) "The loneliness of the long-distance writer pays off", The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 January 2005
* Dooley, Gillian (2006) Review of 'Tuvalu' by Andrew O'Connor, recorded for Writers Radio, Radio Adelaide, 6 October 2006

## References

[edit]

1. ^ O'Connor, Andrew (2006) Tuvalu, p. 245

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