Truth is not a destination - it’s a magical ride. Addy Loest is harbouring a secret - several, in fact. Dedicated overthinker, frockaholic and hard-partyer, she’s been doing all she can to avoid the truth for quite some time.

A working-class girl raised between the Port Kembla Steelworks and the surf of the Illawarra coast, Addy is a fish out of water at the prestigious University of Sydney. She’s also the child of German immigrants, and her broken-hearted widower dad won’t tell her anything about her family’s tragic past.

But it’s 1985, a time of all kinds of excess, from big hair to big misogyny, and distractions are easy. Distractions, indeed, are Addy’s best skill - until one hangover too many leads her to meet a particular frock and a particular man, each of whom will bring all her truths hurtling home.

Told with Kim Kelly’s incomparable warmth and wit, The Truth & Addy Loest is a magical trip through shabby-chic inner-city Sydney, a tale of music and moonlight, literature and love - and of discovering the only story that really matters is the one you write for yourself.

Praise for Kim Kelly

‘Consummate storytelling.’ - Tracy Sorensen, The Lucky Galah
‘alive, full-hearted and shimmering with hope’ - Belinda Castles, Bluebottle
‘an author who writes with such a striking sense of atmosphere and sublime instinct’ - Theresa Smith Writes
‘It is uplifting to know that there are people who can write like this, with clarity, a bit of devilment and a hint of a smile.’ - Canberra Times
‘marvellous depth and authenticity based on some impressive research, and her characters, plot and fluid prose draw the reader into this world’ - Daily Telegraph
‘colourful, evocative and energetic’ - Sydney Morning Herald
‘told with wit, warmth and courage’ - Kylie Mason, The Newtown Review of Books
‘Kim writes like no one else, with a depth of skill few authors achieve.’ - Kelly Rimmer, The Things We Cannot Say
‘a literary page-turner … Kim Kelly is a talented and courageous story-teller’ - Cassie Hamer, The End of Cuthbert Close