Summary

In Chapter 1, "Realism," the narrator contemplates a bridge and the idea that regardless of how the bridge is made, it has been crossed into something of an existential question that will permeate the novella. Biographical information is given about an Australian writer named Elizabeth Costello. Born in 1928, she is currently 66. The year is 1995. Twice married, she has a child by each husband and has written several books, including nine novels. She is most famous for her fourth novel The House on Eccles Street, published in 1969. In it she took the character Marion Bloom from James Joyce’s Ulysses and made herself the main character of her own story. She is en route to pick up the Stowe Award from Altona College, which comes with a $50,000 prize.

As Elizabeth travels with her son John, he coaches her through the necessary elements of the trip...