My Year With Sammy (Ginninderra Press 2015)

Set in urban contemporary Sydney, My Year With Sammy is the complex and poetic story of a memorable child.

‘Parenting and grandparenting are journeys without a compass. In My Year with Sammy, Libby Sommer gives us a raw, heart-rending, insightful and intimate story of one family immersed in the messiness of living with a child who is different. This is recommended reading in juxtaposition with the academic and “how-to” material that is on the market. Something beautiful breaks through from the darkness.’ – Colleen Keating, author of A Call to Listen

‘Sammy is a wild, stubborn girl who is also endearing and fascinating. This is a compelling story of the challenges and joys of parenting, but at the heart of this book is an unforgettable portrait of a determined and unusual child. I loved this intimate, funny and very moving novel.’ – Andy Kissane, award-winning poet and short story writer.

‘Libby Sommer writes about this sort of child with more delicacy and intelligence than any other writer on this topic that I’ve ever read….sharp and subtle observations of Australian society.’ – Sydney Morning Herald

‘…a moving, intelligent and raw insight…’ Dr Anne Jamison, judge, Society of Women Writers Fiction Book Awards

My Year With Sammy was ‘Pick of the Week’ in Spectrum Books, January 2016.  The manuscript was shortlisted in Seizure’s 2015 Viva La Novella Competition and in the UK’s 2014 Mslexia Competition. My Year With Sammy won the Society of Women Writers Fiction Book Award 2016.

The Crystal Ballroom (Ginninderra Press 2017)

‘Libby Sommer lays bare the foibles of human nature in her finely observed stories of love and loss in the singles dance scene. Brilliantly drawn with wit, compassion and poignancy, the characters you meet in The Crystal Ballroom are sure to remind you of someone – maybe even yourself.’ – Jan Cornall, Writer’s Journey

‘Libby Sommer exposes the secret lives of the singles who dance at the Crystal Ballroom. Authentic and powerful, this unique book will be loved by the dancers and readers.’ – Frida Kotlyar, ballroom, Latin and Argentine tango dancer

‘Libby Sommer’s fiction has wit but is essentially serious with a subtle but strong underlying pathos, a wry humour and accomplished satirical tone.’ – Amanda Lohrey, Patrick White Award winner

‘Sommer’s existentialism is one of the best and most articulate voices of middle-age angst ever.’ – Richard English, novelist and visiting lecturer, Brunel University London

The Usual Story (Ginninderra Press 2018)

Tango is a dance of passion. It draws partners into an intimate relationship. Sofia loves to tango but, as she dances, she is confronted by society’s infatuation with the young and the beautiful.

In the painful aftermath of a brief affair, Sofia seeks to find out what she actually knows about herself and the past. She looks for answers in dark corners and begins to see the elusiveness of understanding and memory – the psychological space where recollection and loss collide.

If you liked The Crystal Ballroom, you’ll love The Usual Story, a delicately fragmented story of memory, intrigue and passion.

Stories from Bondi (Ginninderra Press 2019)

Libby Sommer’s sensitively drawn characters live and breathe within the echoes of the everyday. Stories from Bondi centre on women – their joys, doubts, loves and realisation. The foibles of human nature, with all their pathos and humour, are laid bare for the reader.

Lost In Cooper Park (Ginninderra Press 2020)

‘an excellent domestic psychological drama’ –  Disquiet Literary Contest

Lost In Cooper Park was a notable entry in Seizure’s viva La Novella Competition 2018 and the Disquiet International Literary Contest 2018.

The Cellist, a Bellydancer & Other Distractions (Ginninderra Press 2022)

‘Libby Sommer has the true poet’s eye for the deeper meaning that can abide beneath the ordinariness and small details of our daily lives and experiences. And she expresses her insights with the genuine poet’s careful and precise attention to placing the right word in the right place.’ – Barry Spurr, Literary Editor, Quadrant, Australia’s first Professor of Poetry

All books available from Ginninderra Press, bricks and mortar book stores, Amazon, Book Depository and other online booksellers.