Lola in the Mirror

Big-hearted, gritty, magical, and moving, Lola in the Mirror is the irresistible new novel from international bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe and All Our Shimmering Skies, Trent Dalton.

WINNER 2024 ABIA LITERARY FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

SHORTLISTED FOR 2023 DYMOCKS BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2024 INDIE BOOK AWARDS, 2024 BOOKPEOPLE FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR and 2024 AUSTRALIAN BOOK DESIGN AWARDS BEST DESIGNED COMMERCIAL FICTION COVER

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 MARGARET AND COLIN RODERICK LITERARY AWARD

In Lola in the Mirror, a girl and her mother have been on the run for sixteen years, evading the police and escaping from a terrifying past where they left a monster in their kitchen with a knife in his throat. They find sanctuary of sorts, living inside an old van with four flat tyres, stranded in a scrapyard beside the Brisbane River. The girl, who dares not reveal her name because names are dangerous when you're in hiding, dreams of a life far beyond the clutches of the Brisbane underworld and its queen, 'Lady' Flora Box.

The girl’s singular hope lies in her dream of becoming an internationally acclaimed artist. She envisions a life of love with a boy who's waiting for her on a bridge over a lethal, flooding river, and a future free from the ominous threat of a bullet marked with her name. As storm clouds gather, there’s only one person who can help her realise her dreams: a mysterious figure named Lola who holds all the answers. But first, the girl must face one of life’s hardest challenges—looking in the mirror and confronting her own identity.

From the internationally acclaimed author Trent Dalton, Lola in the Mirror is a profound, heartrending, yet darkly humorous novel that masterfully weaves themes of love, fate, violence, and survival. It's a poignant exploration of all the facets of human existence reflected in the mirror: our past, present, and the possibilities of our future.

'Unpredictable, fantastic ... It takes a charged narrative, like Dickens achieves, and as Dalton does too, to reach the heart and the brain - writing that is able to carry both stories, the individual and the political/personal ... To tell you more would spoil this complicated and surprising story. You should read it.' Sydney Morning Herald

'Mirror, mirror, on the grass, what's my future? What's my past?'

'Trent Dalton's third novel reminds me of the 1980s advertising slogan for the author's home state of Queensland: Beautiful one day, perfect the next ... Lola in the Mirror is a bold, big-hearted, hopeful, humorous, dark, reflective, truthful, superbly written novel that confirms Dalton's place in all the shimmering skies (to borrow the title of his second novel) of Australian literature. He is not a rising star but a star full stop.' The Australian

'Wonderful ... An original, heart-thumping novel ... you are right there with the protagonists, feeling and believing every word and every raindrop. It is the type of novel you read filled with pure hope and sorrow for the characters. You want to believe that everything is going to work out just fine, and that there will be dancing, and art, and delight. You won't know until the end, and by that time you, too, are running through the streets, turning the pages, and trusting that love wins.' Readings

'Dalton holds a mirror up to the darkest corners of this Australian life and reveals every bit of beauty, magic and calamity it has to offer.' Booktopia