In Bloom

I loved this book: as raw, grungy and frenetic as Nirvana’s Nevermind, In Bloom smells like disillusioned teen spirit – Alice Slater, author of Let the Bad Times Roll
What a novel! In Bloom is effervescently paced and outrageously funny, but as deep as the hope and angst that drives its protagonists. A perfectly detailed encapsulation of an era we’ve collectively not quite gotten over. It’s also a jaw-dropping exercise in perspective with one of the most brilliantly conceived denouements I’ve encountered. – Luke Kennard, author of Black Bag
Liz Allan’s powerful debut novel smells unmistakably like teen spirit … Allan evokes Vincent in all its tawdry menace: shark-infested waters, creaking carnival rides, violent men lurking at home. Her chapters are distilled, her prose raw and vital, repetitions imbuing an incantatory rhythm … this is an electric portrait of teenage friendship and fandom, bubbling with rage and yearning: an Australian answer to Eliza Clark’s Penance and Dizz Tate’s Brutes … empathetic, addictive and feverish as a Nirvana gig, In Bloom critiques societal problems without patronising those affected by according them a fierce collective voice – Madeleine Feeny * Guardian *
Written in an eerie first person plural - “We practise our songs on the skate home, singing in harmony, over and over” - that narrates short, propulsive chapters, In Bloom is deeply evocative of 1990s suburbia, passionate teenage friendships and the looming shadow of patriarchal violence. – Anna Leszkiewicz * ‘The best debut novelists of 2026’, The Observer *
Atmospheric and gripping …. propulsive and intimate … The specificity of her observations brings a wonderful depth and atmosphere to her portrait of working-class life in a small town in the 1990s; to her depiction of the magic and intensity of friendships between teenage girls; and to her understanding of how patriarchal violence looms over vulnerable young women, from multiple angles. This is a powerful and evocative debut from a writer of great skill and deeply felt emotion. – Anna Leszkiewicz * The Observer *

Dr Liz Allan is a writer and teacher living and working on the lands of the Cammeraygal people. Her debut novel, In Bloom, was named one of the Observer’s Best Debut Novels of 2026 and was shortlisted for the 2026 Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction. Her short story Solastalgia won the 2025 Newcastle Short Story Award, while Our Voices, Fierce won the 2018 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction. Liz was the 2026 Elisabeth Maynard Writer in Residence at Frensham School.

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