The Writing of Brendan Lee

Ignorant Bliss

It’s 2025 and life in Winfield West is as good as it gets. Winnie West – as the locals like to call it – is the perfect place to live: an isolated town where drink-driving is the norm, footy teams prefer to slog it out with their fists than with a ball, and littering is a natural part of urban beautification. The inhabitants wouldn’t have it any other way … but self-determination and the Great Australian Dream aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. 

When one young townie, Jaymee, discovers his Nan’s evil plans, the lure of the Big Smoke becomes too strong to resist, triggering a chain of events that change his life forever. Winnie West is Australia's best-kept secret and is preserved that way by an old guard of locals such as Gary. He’d lived in the heart of town all his life and swore that if he ever reached fifty he’d catch the train out of Winnie West to see if the rest of Australia was as fantastic as where he grew up. This was a bit of a joke with the locals, as the last train passed through fifteen years ago and there was no way he would leave the best place in the world – even if he was the oldest man around. 

Ignorant Bliss follows the daily rituals of Jaymee, a good-for-nothing bludger, just like his freeloading parents, who lied, stole and cheated a life of leisure until they got off their backsides and died out on the highway. To Jaymee's Nan, the sight of him reminds her of his no-hoper parents and the unanswered question of why they would attempt to leave town for good. Ignorant Bliss is an allegorical tale of a dystopian future where the easy-going lifestyle can have explosive consequences. 

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