[2] This multi award-winning collection of short stories is used commonly in the curriculum of 3/AB English students in Western Australia.

The stories are: One review summarised The Turning as, "People struggle against the weight of their own history and try to reconcile themselves to their place in the world.

With extraordinary insight and tenderness, Winton explores the demons and frailties of ordinary people whose lives are not what they had hoped.

"[3] Though The Turning may be difficult to read we are emotionally captured by "these stunted, unhappy, and sometimes doomed lives, but Winton’s prose is transcendent."

The architect of the project was Robert Connolly, and the result was that the 18 stories in the collection were each filmed featuring different actors, directors and collaborators.