Finch Publishing is proud to support Australian writers through an annual prize for an unpublished memoir manuscript.

MY LIFE IN A PEA SOUP follows one mother's journey to reach her profoundly autistic daughter. Set against the backdrop of three countries - Sri Lanka, Bahrain and Australia - this book will appeal to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and then found a way to not only help themselves, but to help those dearest to them. the memoir chronicles Lisa's journey across many countries with her husband Michael and her daughter Sally. Lisa struggles to understand why her beautiful daughter does not act like other toddlers. Lisa and Michael experience cultural clashes and comical moments, all told through the lens of caring for a daughter who is different to the rest. Fighting for years to receive an official diagnosis for something they do not even have a name for, they are thrown headlong into a medicalised world they never knew existed. Baffled and bewildered, Lisa eventually embarks on a home-program for Sally that touches everyone in the family. Sally becomes much easier to manage while Lisa and her husband learn to navigate their way through the misty madness of the profoundly autistic world. By reaching Sally, they find the will and strength to help themselves. their fogs lift and they discover the contentment and happiness that for so long had eluded them.