TAKING A LEAF FROM THEFT
This from Sian Powell’s entertaining Strewth column in The Australian today (April 20):

Now that Peter Carey’s novel “Theft:A Love Story” has been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin award, speculation has been mounting on the fate of his ex-wife’s tit-for-tat revenge book, reportedly titled “Mrs.Jekyll.” Alison Summers was married to carey for 20 years before their acrimonious break-up, and she has been open about her hatred of his book, which she claims features a rude caricature of her. “Theft’s” protagonist, a remarkable Carey-like man, has an ex-wife, dubbed a grasping shopaholic and referred to throughout the book as The Plaintiff. Summer has reportedly been hard at wok on her book, which she says is about a woman who is married to a man for many years before she finally realizes he is not the man she thought he was.