Shortlisted, NSW Multicultural Award, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, 2020
Longlisted, Literary Fiction Book of the Year, Australian Book Industry Awards, 2020
Longlisted, Booktopia Favourite Australian Book, 2020
Longlisted, Miles Franklin Literary Award, 2020
“My god, this was a joy to read. Every year there’s an Australian novel everyone endlessly passes around and recommends because they bloody love it so much, and this is going to be 2019’s. Room for a Stranger explores the high stakes of quiet moments, reveals the beauty of unlikely connections and shows how the antidote to shame is always compassion. After reading this impossible-to-put-down novel, Melanie Cheng is quickly becoming my favourite Australian writer.” — Benjamin Law
“[Room for a Stranger] is beautifully done. Melanie Cheng’s unaffected wisdom is just delightful. You never feel she has an axe to grind or an agenda to push. She may not set out to change the world but the warmth of her affection for lonely people will help to do just that.” — Michael McGirr, Sydney Morning Herald
“This scrupulously written, compassionate novel delivers a surprisingly powerful emotional punch as the two characters tentatively negotiate their lives together in today’s city.” — Jason Steger, The Age
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