![Orwellian irony](https://cdn.magzter.com/1472106876/1714445923/articles/rCKM_Aylg1714461464196/ORWELLIAN-IRONY.jpg)
In the summer of 2017, Australian writer Anna Funder had hit "peak overload", dragged down by the weight of domestic duties crowding out her work deadlines. Her frustrations came to a head one day after yet another "soul-sapping" trip to a mall to get groceries because that was just part of being a wife, mother and multitasking homemaker.
But it had all tipped over into a mad scramble for time and space. Funder's husband, Craig Allchin, was a busy architect, but she was a busy professional, too - as a writer, a translator of French and German, which she speaks fluently, and a documentary film-maker. She is currently attached to the University of Technology Sydney's creative writing school as a researcher.
Her portfolio of roles came after working as a human rights lawyer in the Australian attorney-general's office in Canberra until the mid-90s, when she stunned her colleagues by quitting the job to move, alone, to Berlin to pursue her dream of becoming a writer.
The result was the publication of her first book, Stasiland (2002), a courageous investigation of the Stasi security apparatus, which terrorised the people of East Germany for 40 years. In 2004, the book won the British Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction.
Her debut novel, All That I Am (2011), about a group of German-Jewish dissidents in pre-war London, won Australia's prestigious Miles Franklin Award.
But in 2017, Funder felt her overcrowded life had reached an impasse. "How did I get here?" she asks in her new book, Wifedom, describing the day she drove around the mall car park, mocked by the "empty promises" of the exit signs. "I could never really leave," she writes in the book. "The mall had sucked out my privileged, perimenopausal soul. I had to get her back."
This story is from the May 04-10, 2024 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 04-10, 2024 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
![Ewes know it](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13970/1746480/-hEIPnZu21719916123303/EWES-KNOW-IT.jpg)
Ewes know it
'It has been my life's work,\" I announced grandly and quite possibly pompously the other day to Greg, no other audience being available, \"to advocate for the advancement of sheep.\" He pointed out that this was patently untrue. If it was true, he said annoyingly, although quite possibly reasonably, I'd have started my life's work a bit earlier, given that I had taken up this selfless work only seven years ago, the length of time we have been at Lush Places.
![A moral panic](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13970/1746480/DtpZYTk5R1719915986534/A-MORAL-PANIC.jpg)
A moral panic
America's top doctor wants smoking-style warning labels for social media platforms.
![Give and take](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13970/1746480/nDnf2HtPH1719915864246/GIVE-AND-TAKE.jpg)
Give and take
We're likely to reciprocate if someone's nice to us unexpectedly.
![Culture club](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13970/1746480/I7xXPlCeX1719915513405/CULTURE-CLUB.jpg)
Culture club
Whether you make yoghurt at home with your own starter or buy a commercial brand, the health benefits remain roughly the same.
![Now for the news](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13970/1746480/JdsvfRGI-1719915342669/NOW-FOR-THE-NEWS.jpg)
Now for the news
How will Stuff's take on broadcast news match up to its polished predecessor?
![Time to rewind](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13970/1746480/7E_XSMUMn1719915178146/TIME-TO-REWIND.jpg)
Time to rewind
A leaner NZ International Film Festival programme still offers promising local debuts and some art cinema classics.
![Come dancing](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13970/1746480/DI5ZgJ6B-1719914977468/COME-DANCING.jpg)
Come dancing
Albums from Anna Coddington and Peggy Gou are smart and sassy. Bonny Light Horseman leans on heartache.
![Calling on the muse](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13970/1746480/QuXqJroNy1719914762274/CALLING-ON-THE-MUSE.jpg)
Calling on the muse
Kiwi journalist Garth Cartwright recalls his audience with the late Françoise Hardy in Paris.
![Artist of high standing](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13970/1746480/_R34EwYxP1719914444319/ARTIST-OF-HIGH-STANDING.jpg)
Artist of high standing
Waiheke Island sculptor Anton Forde talks about creating the largest contemporary pou installation of his career.
!['You were salvation'](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13970/1746480/0oWNU7jfL1719914205198/YOU-WERE-SALVATION.jpg)
'You were salvation'
A repurposed supply vessel provides a lifeline to migrants who risk their lives to cross the Mediterranean in a desperate bid for a new life.