Australian Story: May 23

Australian Story on Monday profiles Puberty Blues author Kathy Lette, determined to age disgracefully.

This episode is introduced by Kylie Minogue.

When she co-wrote Puberty Blues in her teens, Kathy Lette became known in Australia as the voice of youth, a label she struggled to shake even as she approached her 30s.

But when she left husband Kim Williams for Geoffrey Robertson and moved to London, she found her voice. In a succession of best-selling novels, she lightly fictionalised the various stages of her life, including marriage, motherhood and divorce, softening her often dark subject matter with an inexhaustible supply of puns and one-liners.

“Pretty much I’ve cannibalised my entire life,” she tells Australian Story. “Probably the last book I’ll write will be Menopause Blues. So I’ll have Puberty Blues and Menopause Blues. My whole life will be bookended by my hormonal upheavals.”

Now 63, Lette is determined to age disgracefully and believes post-menopause is the best time in a woman’s life.

She talks about her long and successful career, her marriages to Kim Williams and Geoffrey Robertson, her new partner Brian O’Doherty and the pride she takes in the achievements of her autistic son Jules, who is carving out a successful acting career.

Producer: Greg Hassall

8pm Monday on ABC.