‘A masterclass in rendering all the many dimensions of the human heart.’
POROCHISTA KHAKPOUR, AUTHOR OF TEHRANGELES
It’s never too late to rewrite your own story.
For years, Leila Whittaker has been the mediator in her family. She smoothes ruffled feathers between her sons; endures the volatile moods of their father, the acclaimed Australian artist Ken Black; and even swallows the bitter pill of Ken’s endless affairs. All this, for the quiet hum of creative freedom her marriage provides. Or so she tells herself.
When Ken dies, leaving his artist’s estate to their two sons, and the pointed amount of sixty-nine thousand dollars to his muse, Anita, Leila decides she’s had enough. It’s time to seek some peace (and pleasure) of her own …
Diving, Falling is an elegant, exhilarating journey through grief, betrayal, and the intoxicating rediscovery of joy. Ripe with wickedly wry observations, unashamedly bold and sexy, it examines the calculations and sacrifices women make to keep the peace, escape their pasts, and find the agency to pursue their own passions.
REVIEWS
Diving, Falling Review. The Conversation, 18 October 2024. Jane Turner Goldsmith: ‘Much of the novel’s narrative propulsion comes from the unfolding of Leila’s multi-faceted character. She is a complex woman on many levels … As a psychological drama, it forensically dissects complex relationships, in a fresh style devoid of clichés … Mirmohamadi’s writing was a high point for me. She is especially masterful at crafting nuance in interpersonal encounters … The prose is immersive and insightful, with layers of deep universal understandings that perhaps only art — including literature — can deliver.’
Diving, Falling Review. In Review, 3 October 2024. Jo Case: ‘An absolutely immersive art-world family drama … Diving, Falling is another woman-in-midlife-crisis novel, joining Miranda July’s All Fours and Emily Perkins’ Lioness in depicting a woman in her forties or fifties who has structured her life around serving others rather than prioritising her own desires. Mirmohamadi has created a vivid, alternately alluring and repelling world, beautifully detailed with artwork, architecture and intricately imagined relationships. I can’t remember a recent novel I’ve more thoroughly enjoyed.’
Diving, Falling Review. Good Reading Magazine, October 2024. Bob Moore: ‘This is a debut novel, but Mirmohamadi is no ingenue. Her writing is tight, the pacing is superb, and her characterisations are exquisite. This novel is a must-read.’
Death of the Artist, Husband, Monster. Guardian Australia, 19 September 2024. Catriona Menzies-Pike: ‘there’s much that’s new and very charming about Mirmohamadi’s approach to the after-marriage novel, particularly Leila herself, and her determination to tear up the scripts given to older women, to grieving women, to wealthy women, to mothers, to women artists; to tear them all up and write a new set of stories to live by.’
Diving, Falling Review. Aniko Press, 16 September 2024. Elaine Chennatt: ‘Mirmohamadi does a wonderful job of bringing Leila to life and showcasing that women – no matter their age – are fully alive, filled with desire, passion, and deserving of the capacity to make mistakes, explore new paths and find themselves outside of the mother/wife dichotomy. … Fans of Siri Hustvedt, Sigrid Nunez and Rachel Cusk will find much to enjoy in these pages.’
Diving, Falling Review. The Saturday Paper, 14 September 2024, p. 26. Paywalled. Justine Hyde: ‘Mirmohamadi writes evocatively about the contrasting landscapes and moods of Sydney and Leila’s native Melbourne. Her rendering of family and friendship dynamics in the aftermath of grief and betrayal is wry and nuanced.’
Diving, Falling Review. ‘A masterly debut of art and authority’. The Australian, Weekend Review 7-8 September 2024, p. 15. Paywalled. Caroline Overington, Literary Editor: ‘I … just loved [Diving, Falling]. What a marvellous debut.’
Diving, Falling Review. ArtsHub, 3 September 2024. Ashleigh Meikle: ‘charts the exhilarating rollercoaster of emotions that accompany grief. … an unashamed look at responses to grief and the rebuilding of a life from the remnants of what remains.’
Best Australian Books Out in September. Guardian Australia, 1 September 2024. Sian Cain: ‘There is a pleasingly frosty quality to this debut … Elegant, biting writing’.
Diving, Falling Review. Books+Publishing, 9 July 2024. Danielle Bagnato: ‘This novel is for readers of Siri Hustvedt, Sigrid Nunez and Tessa Hadley, and for readers who love ‘begin again’ stories, untangling the complexities of relationships, and seeing women rail against double standards.’
Diving, Falling reviewed on the Readings bookshop website. Vasilia Nerouppos: ‘Diving, Falling is a raw, painful, and poignant story about the celebration of a loss and what comes after it … perfect for fans of Sigrid Nunez and Tessa Hadley.’
Diving, Falling Review. Keeping Up With The Penguins. ‘Diving, Falling is a book set in the inconceivably large shadow cast by a volatile patriarch, even after death. It’s an intense subject for a debut, but one that Kylie Mirmohamadi handles well … a fascinating portrait of the complexities of grief, especially when the person lost was radically imperfect but immensely popular.’
‘Honey Bees, Cactus Pears, and Forging New Paths’. New Voices Down Under. Meredith Jaffe: ‘Diving, Falling is a confident, funny and dramatic debut … Mirmohamadi delights with this creation of a multi-faceted woman who ignites curiosity and, mostly, empathy. The writing is assured and it is wonderful to read a novel about women’s lives separate to their identity as mother and wife. Diving, Falling is a delight. Intelligent fiction, entertaining and entirely relatable.’
Diving, Falling Review. Reading, Writing and Riesling. Carol Seeley: ‘the writing is luscious, evocative, compelling, emotive, relatable …an evocative exploration of grief and family, of women’s role is society, of the construct of marriage and the double standards – domestic and public that women are constrained by. This feminist read is also about joy, rediscovering self, art, and life. Complex, flawed characters, luscious, compelling writing, what more could you want?’
INTERVIEWS etc.
Emerging Writers Series: Kylie Mirmohamadi. Aniko Press.
Q&A: Kylie Mirmohamadi, Author of Diving, Falling. Better Reading.
Meet Kylie Mirmohamadi, Author of Diving, Falling. Good Reading Magazine.
Creating Complex Characters in Writing. Ramona Magazine. Op-ed by Kylie Mirmohamadi.
Q&A with Kylie Mirmohamadi. Scribe Website.
This is the first scholarly study to explore the ever-expanding world of online Austen fandom and fan fiction writing. Using case studies from the Internet writing community and publisher, Wattpad, as well as dedicated fan websites, it illuminates the literary processes and products that have given Austen multiple afterlives in the digital arena.
“This is an exciting project, which makes an important and significant contribution to the fields of fan studies and readership studies. Kylie Mirmohamadi's work provides a new perspective on Austen's reception, highlighting in particular the intertextual (in the broadest sense of the word) nature of how Austen is now received and perceived in today's world.” - Katie Halsey, University of Stirling, UK.
“Kylie Mirmohamadi’s work, The Digital Afterlives of Jane Austen: Janeites at the Keyboard, adds to this new body of research on fan adaptations. Austen-based online spin offs are here placed firmly within the on-going narrative of Austen studies as a means of reinterpreting Jane Austen’s works and their position in the twenty-first century, weaving together issues of intertextuality, digital spatial mapping, and ‘print’ culture online and offline.” - Sophie Franklin, LSE Review of Books.