Memoir of a Snail

Grace Pudel is a young girl in 1970s Melbourne, Australia, who lives with her twin brother Gilbert and their French father Percy, a former juggler who is now paraplegic with an alcohol use disorder. She develops a hobby of collecting snails, which she shares with her mother who died in childbirth. The twins have a close and supportive relationship, and Gilbert defends Grace from schoolmates who tease her for her cleft lip, resulting from being born prematurely.