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The Helpline

The Helpline

Katherine Collette

  • awardLonglisted, Indie Book Awards for Debut Fiction, 2019
  • Germaine Johnson may not be all that good with people but she’s great with numbers. Unfortunately, as she discovers after the incident at Wallace Insurance, there are very few openings these days for senior mathematicians.

    Then her cousin gets her a job at the council. On the Senior Citizens Helpline.

    It’s not the resume entry Germaine wanted—but it turns out Mayor Verity Bainbridge has something more interesting in mind for her. A secret project involving the troublemakers at the senior citizens centre and their feud with the golf club next door. Which is run by the strangely attractive Don Thomas.

    Don and the mayor want the seniors closed down.
    Germaine wants what Don and the mayor want. But when she’s forced to get to know the ‘troublemakers’—things get more complicated.

    A sharp, witty, big-hearted comedy from a hilarious new Australian writer, Katherine Collette’s The Helpline is about people power and brain power—and the difficulty of getting them to work together.

    INTERVIEWS

    3CR: Published or Not
    ABC online (scroll down)
    ABC Radio Melbourne, The Conversation Hour
      
    ABC Radio National: Blueprint for Living
    ABC Radio National: Hub on Books
    Broadsheet Melbourne ‘The Helpline is populated with prickly women who are often terse or unkind to the people around them. And it’s wonderful.’
    Channel 7, The Daily Edition

    REVIEWS

    ABC Radio National: The Book Show
    Australian
    , ‘How sewerage and writing go hand in hand’ ($)
    Readings
     
    Booklover Book Reviews
    2SER Breakfast
    2SER Final Draft (17:35 onward)
    3RRR Backstory (12:30 onwards)
    Radio NZ: Nine to Noon
    Overland (October in Fiction)
    The Spinoff: Papercuts podcast (38:30)
    Sydney Morning Herald ‘The character of Germaine, endearing but far from cutesy, is the great triumph of this accomplished debut.’
    Daily Mail (UK) 
    Kirkus Reviews 
    Cass Moriarty  

    Katherine Collette
    About the Author

    Katherine Collette is a novelist, podcaster and engineer living in Melbourne with her husband and two children. Her debut novel, The Helpline, was published in the US, UK, Germany and Italy. She also co-host books podcast The First Time.

    Read Moreright
    Extent:
    400pp
    Format:
    Paperback
    Text publication date:
    7 January 2020
    ISBN:
    9781922268037
    AU Price:
    $22.99
    NZ Price:
    $26.00
    Australian
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    Praise for Katherine Collette
    andThe Helpline

    ‘The character of Germaine, endearing but far from cutesy, is the great triumph of this accomplished debut.’

    ‘Witty and unexpectedly charming, The Helpline is genuinely hilarious.’

    The Helpline is populated with prickly women who are often terse or unkind to the people around them. And it’s wonderful.’

    ‘Delightful…a warm and heart-warming tale of biscuits, mayors, bureaucracy, round pegs in square holes, golf, serial pests, sudoku, incomprehensible formulas, Red Emperors and infrastructure. This is a light-hearted, laugh-out-loud kind of rom com, which I can highly recommend as the perfect reading in these iso times.’

    ‘A fun read, full of unique characters.’

    ‘Clever writing about an awkward character.’

    Other editions ofThe Helpline
    • The Helpline
      ebook
      ISBN: 9781925626643
      3 September 2018
      Buy ebook
    Other Titles byKatherine Collette