The Last Summer of the Men Shortage

Men are hard to come by in the summer of 1945, and those that Dinah does find are stolen by Claudia with appalling regularity. Dinah and Claudia are young Adelaide women, teaming up to enjoy their independence in exotic Sydney during days drenched in sunshine and sentimental songs. Claudia is in love with Andrew who has a wife, a 'way of life', and a taste for cruelty. The victim of his sadistic irony is Dinah, who cannot understand why he is so anxious to find her a man. The reason, it transpires, is a practical one.

'The Last Summer of the Men Shortage is bubbly, full of high spirits, well-written and honest. It is the work of a novelist who extracts the juice of a very fine humour from the pains and irritations of daily existence.' - New Fiction Society

'Perhaps only now is it permissible to write of the wonderful fun had by all in Sydney when the rest of the world was in hell.' - Jill Neville

'Geraldine Halls writes superbly, with fantastic imagination, a subtle insight into her characters, and a perceptive eye for describing landscapes and places.' - New York Times