Author Talk: Dream Girls with Hannah Goldstein

Join author Hannah Goldstein in conversation with Jessie Hilton to discuss the much anticipated novel Dream Girls.
About this Event

Bookings essential, tickets include a drink and canapes
Copies of Dream Girls will be available for purchase on the day from Gertrude & Alice Bookstore.

About the book

Helena and Ruthie have been best friends since high school, where they bonded over Wuthering Heights, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet and photographs of Joseph Stalin when he was young and hot. They dreamed of getting a place of their own in the city and living a life of great passion, art and romance.

But as they drift into their late twenties, they are forced to contend with the idea that growing up might mean growing apart. Helena works at an elite boys' private school, a misogynistic hellhole rife with sexual harassment and paintings of ships. Every day she pines for an ex-boyfriend who left her with nothing but a print of an artwork of Ophelia drowning. Meanwhile, Ruthie is pouring her marital despair into three-tiered funfetti cakes and seeking refuge from her family in solo Friday night trips to Woolworths.

When an old school friend invites Helena and Ruthie to a glamorous forest wedding, they jump at the chance to reconnect. But finding their way back to each other, past unrealised dreams and younger selves, isn't as easy as they thought. Inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dream Girls is a novel about love and friendship in absurd times.

About the author

Hannah Goldstein is a writer and teacher from Sydney. Her fiction has appeared in The Big Issue and the UTS Writers' Anthology and has been shortlisted for the Richell Prize. Dream Girls is her debut novel.

About the facilitator

Jessie Hilton is a bookseller, writer, producer and mother of two young boys. In 2021, she founded Open Book, an independent bookshop in Perth that has become a cherished part of the local community. Jessie is currently developing projects for the screen and has recently completed writing her first novel.

We aim to deliver inclusive and accessible events. If you would like to attend this event and you have any access or communication requirements, please contact us at [email protected] or on 9391 7100.