The Thing I Came For

The Thing I Came For is a fictional memoir-in-verse which takes us from wild girlhood to untranquil 21st century womanhood, motherhood and beyond. In 80s Sydney, London and Berlin beneath the wall, Bradley Smith’s prose poems unfold a raw saga of one woman’s often chaotic hunt for freedom, finally laid bare for a beloved daughter.

Vivid as a moment, each poem is simultaneously tight and explosive. Riveting verse narrative, it has Bradley Smith’s trademark courage and skill. No word wasted, no image untapped, the work leads us into the dynamic of ‘historical fiction’ from a ‘professional confessionalist’. London in the 80s pulsates: good sex and bad; lostness and embracing life; freedom and constraint; drugs and suicide. And back in Australia, motherhood’s loving helplessness.  I finished the book with a sense of tenderness, and ‘the thing I came for’.

Robyn Rowland AO

Available as Digital book (downloadable PDF) or Softcover book