MARION

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Belinda Cranston

The Changing Room


Transit Lounge, 2024

As a young girl in Sydney, Rachel pays more attention than she perhaps should, to a British cartoon character who accesses different personas on separate adventures each time he goes into the changing room of a London costume shop. Then at an opportune moment the owner of the shop taps the gentleman on the shoulder, excusing him to go back to being himself.

In her early twenties, Rachel sets off for London with the aim of having a few adventures of her own. But unlike her childhood character, life irrevocably changes for Rachel once she leaves the safety and familiarity of home. Does she become the victim of a mysterious mental health illness while she is in Israel and Egypt, or is something else at play? Rachel is forced to accept there’s no coming back from some adventures, and that coming to terms with reality is perhaps her only real chance of accessing the life she craves most.


About the Author

Belinda Cranston is a Canberra based writer. She has worked as a journalist in Sydney, London and in Canberra’s parliamentary press gallery. Her corporate communications work includes writing speeches and opinion pieces for CEOs and politicians. The Changing Room is her first novel.