Order of Book Series
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Helen Garner Books in Order

Helen Garner has written 23 books, published between 1977 and 2025. The first book is Monkey Grip (1977) and the newest is The Mushroom Tapes (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
23
Published
1977–2025
Pages on record
914 in 3 of 23 books
See all 23 books in order Printable Helen Garner checklist
Photo of Helen Garner, author

Helen Garner, born 7 November 1942, is an Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist who has written both fiction and non-fiction across a broad range of themes. Monkey Grip, the first novel, appeared in 1977 and established Garner on the Australian literary scene; personal experience adapted into fiction recurs through the work, in Monkey Grip and in The Spare Room (2008). The catalogue lists 23 books reaching The Mushroom Tapes in 2025, with Postcards from Surfers (1981), The Children's Bach (1984), Cosmo Cosmolino (1992) and The First Stone (1995) among them. Subjects name true crime, Australian trials, filicide, diaries and biography.

How many Helen Garner books are there?

Helen Garner has 23 books, released between 1977 and 2025.

Helen Garner Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 23 Helen Garner books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of My Hard Heart by Helen Garner (1998)
  2. Cover of This House of Grief by Helen Garner (2014)
  1. 1
    Monkey Grip1977 · confirmed 1/4
    1977–
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  2. 2
    Postcards from Surfers1981 · confirmed 1/4
    1981–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Honour and Other People's Children1982 · confirmed 1/4
    1982–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Moving Out1983 · confirmed 1/4
    1983–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Children's Bach1984 · confirmed 1/4
    1984–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Last Days of Chez Nous and Two Friends1992 · confirmed 1/4
    1992–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Cosmo Cosmolino1992 · confirmed 1/4
    1992–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The First Stone1995 · confirmed 1/4
    1995–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    True Stories1996 · confirmed 1/4
    1996–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    My Hard Heart1998 · 306 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1998306
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Regions of Thick-Ribbed IceShort Blacks #12001 · confirmed 2/4
    2001–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Feel Of Steel2001 · confirmed 1/4
    2001–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Joe Cinque's Consolation2004 · confirmed 1/4
    2004–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Consultation on Vulnerable Adults2004 · confirmed 1/4
    2004–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Spare Room2008 · confirmed 1/4
    2008–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    This House of Grief2014 · 320 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2014320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Everywhere I Look2016 · confirmed 1/4
    2016–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Stories: The Collected Short Fiction2017 · confirmed 1/4
    2017–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Yellow Notebook2020 · 288 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2020288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    One Day I'll Remember This2020 · confirmed 1/4
    2020–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    How to End a Story2021 · confirmed 1/4
    2021–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    The Season2024 · confirmed 1/4
    2024–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    The Mushroom Tapes2025 · confirmed 1/4
    2025–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Helen Garner books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Short Blacks in order

1 book
  1. 1. Regions of Thick-Ribbed Ice

Standalone books

22 books

22 Helen Garner titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Helen Garner books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 23 Helen Garner books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Helen Garner

Start with Monkey Grip (1977), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Helen Garner book?

The Mushroom Tapes (2025) is the newest Helen Garner book released so far.

Is there a new Helen Garner book coming?

No next Helen Garner book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Helen Garner has won

Wikidata records 3 awards for Helen Garner. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Windham–Campbell Literature Prizes2016Won
  • Christina Stead Prize for Fiction1986Won
  • Banjo Award for Fiction1978Wonfor Monkey Grip

Helen Garner at a glance

Still publishing
Helen Garner published a book as recently as 2025.
Release pace
Helen Garner books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
914 pages across the 3 of 23 books with a recorded length, a median of 306 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Helen Garner books, 5 of 23, were published in the 2020s.

What the Helen Garner books are about

2 of the 23 Helen Garner books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. No subject is tagged on more than one of them, so each one below describes a single book. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

  • Australian Authors 1 of 2 books
  • Australian Women authors 1 of 2 books
  • Authors 1 of 2 books
  • Authors, biography 1 of 2 books
  • Biography 1 of 2 books
  • Children 1 of 2 books
  • Crimes against 1 of 2 books
  • Custody of children 1 of 2 books
  • Diaries 1 of 2 books
  • Filicide 1 of 2 books
  • Infanticide 1 of 2 books
  • Murder, australia 1 of 2 books