Chalk and Cheese: A Fabrication, by Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen
Hybrid Publishing. Melbourne $24.99

Do you worry about how the elderly are treated in nursing homes?

Chalk and Cheese: A Fabrication, by Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen Buy now $24.99
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“Chalk and Cheese is a work of brilliantly cinematic quality.” –Nigel Marsh, Smart, Stupid & Sixty
“… my current top Australian fiction read this year.” – Eamonn O’Hanlon, The Sydney Institute Review of Books, September 2025

” … quite remarkable writing about the contrasting values that dominate contemporary society … absolutely splendid writing deserving of significant recognition” – Alan Jones
“… the writing is superb. The dialogue sparkles, and the descriptions—of the nursing home and the rural hideaway—are vivid without being overwrought.” – Dr Michael Briody, Quadrant, Aug-Sep 2025
“There’s never a dull moment in Chalk and Cheese … It is poignant and funny and will appeal to a very wide audience.” – Ken Spillman, HAVE-A-GO NEWS Oct 2025
Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen’s powerful new fiction, Chalk and Cheese, is a tale of two 80-year-old former radio stars, Bill and Ben, who hate each other, but who end up in the same nursing home. Even though Chalk & Cheese can be seen as a wry comedy using clear-eyed satire, it is also a compelling story which challenges our views on life in nursing homes and how the elderly are treated.

‘Chalk and Cheese: A Fabrication is more than a satire about politics or the story of two cranky old men stuck together in a nursing home. It’s a novel that takes ageing seriously without stripping it of humour, and that imagines dialogue across divides without pretending it’s easy. For me, its power lies in how it blends the absurd with the tender, showing that reconciliation can be messy, partial, and still worthwhile. In a time when the word “divisive” seems to define public life, Fitzgerald and McFadyen offer something rare: a reminder that even in the most unlikely of settings, and even at the end of life, there is room for laughter, recognition, and the possibility of change.’ – Hamish Brown
‘AGING AS HUMOUR – WITH A MESSAGE’: Read Eamonn O’Hanlon’s review, Sydney Institute Review here.

‘Revolting residents: Elders unite in “Chalk and Cheese”‘– Does it take an odd couple to write about an odd couple? Read Phil Brown‘s review here.
‘How a podcast from a nursing home could change everything for our seniors’ Read the Canberra Times article: Ross Fitzgerald article, Canberra Times

About the authors:
Ross Fitzgerald AM is Emeritus Professor of History and Politics at Griffith University. He is the author or co-author of forty-six books, including a memoir Fifty Years Sober: An Alcoholics Journey and the political satires Going Out Backwards: A Grafton Everest Adventure, So Far, So Good: An Entertainment, The Dizzying Heights, The Lowest Depths, Pandemonium and The Ascent of Everest, all published by Hybrid Publishers. Ross Fitzgerald lives in Redfern, Sydney.

Ian McFadyen is a writer, actor and television producer who has created a number of successful television series, books and plays. He has collaborated with Ross Fitzgerald to write the previous Grafton Everest novels.
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