This is Where We Say Goodbye

By Howard McKenzie-Murray

Fremantle Press 2026

Reviewed by Alison McCaffrey

Ditching her roommate to hang out in the laundromat (without any clothes to wash, mind you) isn’t how Maud had planned to spend her twenty-first birthday. But she finds herself searching for a place where she can write an honest letter to say goodbye to her brother, Lloyd, before his funeral the following day.

This is Where We Say Goodbye explores the emotional turmoil that comes with grief and love and uncertainty, while following Maud on her 24-hour path from avoidance to acceptance. But Maud is not going gently along a straight path – in fact, it seems Maud doesn’t do anything gently or in a straight line. As her sardonic view of the world mixes with the seriousness of what those 24-hours truly mean, we are carried on a journey that will have readers wondering whether anything Maud sees, says and does is real, or if she is slowly losing her grip on reality (or maybe, reader, it’s you who is slowly losing your grip).

As quirky, curious Maud grapples with big life decisions about medical school, friendship, love, and her place within an interesting family, readers will find themselves both heartbroken and instilled with a new hope.

The debut novel for WA author Howard McKenzie-Murray, This is Where We Say Goodbye tears open the veil of grief to shine a light on one aspect that isn’t portrayed often enough, or with the honestly, sensitivity and humour found here. The journey the narrator takes is one that looks different for everyone, and McKenzie-Murray has provided a viewpoint that shows the highs and lows of what that could mean, and that there are different ways of pulling ourselves back up, even from the darkest or strangest places.