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This contribution relates to both an exhibition recently held at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, and a book, which was partially published as an outcome of that exhibition held in the UK and USA in recent years.

At the historical Art Gallery of Ballarat, in Victoria, there were two exhibitions run in conjunction with each other  earlier this year –   the ‘Pre-Raphaelites: Drawings and Watercolours’, and ‘In the Company of Morris’. The term Pre-Raphaelite is now used to encompass a style of art that proliferated in Britain for much of the second half of the nineteenth century.

From the Gallery’s promotional material and associated sources, we learn, that in 1848, seven rebellious young artists formed a secret society called the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood [PRB]. This international exhibition drew from the extraordinary collections of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford [UK], to tell the story of the artists, their lives and loves, bringing to life the world of John Ruskin, William and Jane Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, John Everett Millais, Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Lizzie Siddall.

Their mission was to challenge and change the popular style of art of the time. These artists loved 15^th century aet, and were inspired by nature, stories, and poetry. The Pre-Raphaelite artists often turned to stories from history for example from Greek mythology, or the tales of King Arthur, and even fairy tales for ideas, as well as illustrating the works of poets of the likes of Geoffrey Chaucer.  It was felt that the literature provided a stimulating springboard for the artists to generate new ideas in relation to narrative, memory, religion, and romance. Tropes of love, heroism, and beauty were subverted and Pre-Raphaelites portrayed knights and damsels in complex social situations.

During their strongest period of influence, they were generally friends, who enjoyed making and producing drawings, paintings, etc, of each other, sharing ideas, and supporting one another, particularly when their work faced criticism.  They often turned to nature for inspiration, concentrating on smaller details, as well as a preference for making art outside, rather than drawing plants or animals from their imagination. In fact, they were described  as the first artists to paint en plain air or outside in nature and were meticulous in their adherence to truth in nature

Meanwhile,  the exhibition held in conjunction the Pre-Raphaelites  In the Company of Morris]  celebrated the ongoing legacy  of the Pre-Raphaelites  and William Morris, in the work of Australian artists in the Art Gallery of Ballarat Collection from the 19^th century until today.

William Morris, was described as a Pre-Raphaelite visionary thinker, designer, writer, artist, poet, environmental crusader [well before his time] and social activist. He believed in the rights of individuals –   to improve the world and that good design should be available for all. Morris’ dream was to bring art into the daily life of every person; he believed that filling a person’s soul with beauty was as important as filling their belly with food.

Further, in reaction to the Industrial Revolution of the time, Morris argued for a rejection of mass production; he was appalled by the cheap ugliness produced by industrial manufacturing and championed the beauty of methods based on medieval craft societies and as an active socialist he advocated that the maker be involved in all aspects of production. In terms of the emphasise of the Group on landscaping, Morris in observing the ill effects of factory on workers, realised that a healthy environment was linked to psychological as well as physical health and that the landscape itself contributed to well-being.

In the gift shop of the Art Gallery, there was a large ‘coffee table’ sized book titled the  ‘Victorian Radicals: From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts and Crafts Movement’ published in 2018 by the American Federation of Arts [New York] and Del Monico Books -Prestel, 280 pages.   An expensive purchase in my normal terms, but I would later consider it a well worthwhile acquisition; certainly the many wonderful illustrations of the various genres of art undertaken by the movement  were a delight to examine and learn from.

From the inside front cover:

‘Three generations of British artists, designers, and makers revolutionised the visual arts in the second half of the nineteenth century. The reforming zeal and creative brilliance of the Pre-Raphaelites, William Morris and his associates, and the members of the Arts & Crafts movement transformed art and design. Selected from the outstanding collection of the city of Birmingham, England, Victorian Radicals brings together a rich variety of paintings, works on paper, and the decorative arts to tell the story of this most dynamic period of English art.  Many of the works have never been published before.  Among the world’s first and most productive industrial cities, Birmingham holds one of the greatest civic collections in Europe.  It includes extraordinary holdings of Victorian fine and decorative art, and the finest collection of works by the Pre-Raphaelites and their associates and followers anywhere in the world.

Victorian Radicals features key paintings and drawings by the leading figures of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Elizabeth Siddall, and their mentor John Ruskin, and the second wave of Pre-Raphaelite artists, including Arthur Hughes, Frederick Sandys, and Simeon Solomon, as well as the later generation of young men and women around 1900 whose art was influenced by them.

The fine and decorative art featured in this book represents almost the full range of Pre-Raphaelite practice. Included are world-famous paintings, drawings and watercolours, delicate studies from nature, and exquisite illustrations for printed books and magazines. This fine art narrative is balanced by concurrent, interrelated developments in design and the decorative arts. Outstanding examples of stained glass, ceramics by William De Morgan, vessel glass by  James Powell & Sons, textiles and printed books by William Morris, and silver and metalwork  designed by leading architects  of the day all extend an understanding  of the diversity and richness of visual arts in England during the years1840 to1910……..This book also explores key ideas that preoccupied artists and critics at the time, relating to the status and purpose of beauty and the arts in an industrial world, the value of the handmade, and tensions between the concepts of making and designing. These are issues as relevant and actively debated today as they were a century and a half ago.’.

From the Yale Centre for British Art – about this book.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, three generations of young rebellious artists and designers revolutionized the visual arts in Britain and challenged the new industrial world around them. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, William Morris and his associates, and the champions of the Arts and Crafts movement offered a radical artistic and social vision that found inspiration in the preindustrial past and decisively influenced visual culture in Britain and beyond. Victorian Radicals brought together approximately 145 paintings, works on paper, and works of decorative art—many never shown outside the UK—to illuminate this most dynamic period of British art in an exhibition of unparalleled historical and visual richness.

Showcasing the work of Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, William Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Elizabeth Siddall, among others, this display represented the spectrum of avant-garde practices of the Victorian period. These artists’ attention to detail, use of vibrant colours, and engagement with both literary themes and contemporary life were illustrated through a selection of paintings, drawings, and watercolours presented alongside superb examples of decorative art.

From Prestel Publishing

This generously illustrated and exciting new study of the Victorian era features rarely seen works, provocative essays, and a striking, period-inspired design.

Although the word “Victorian” connotes a kind of dry propriety, the artists working in the Victorian era were anything but. Starting with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and lasting through the dawn of the 20th century, the era’s painters, writers, and designers challenged every prevailing belief about art and its purpose.

The full spectrum of the Victorian avantgarde is in magnificent display in this book that features nearly 150 works drawn from the Birmingham Museum’s unparalleled collection.

Characterized by attention to detail, vibrant colours, and engagement with literary themes and daily life, the paintings, works on paper, and decorative objects featured reveal the myriad ways Victorian artists and artisans made sense of a rapidly changing world.

Perceptive essays and the latest scholarship illuminate the issues these artists contended with, including the relationship to art and nature, questions of class and gender identity, the value of handmade versus machine production, and the search for beauty in an age of industry.

Designed to reflect the tactile nature of the work and featuring typography inspired by the Victorian era, this beautiful volume is as fresh and bold as the visionaries it celebrates.

One reviewer wrote:

‘The book is a hefty and gorgeous illumination into the Pre-Raphaelite and Arts & Crafts Movement in England. The eleven full page colour details at the front of the book are sublime as well as the full detail colour photographs of objects starting each chapter.

This is first-rate, highest quality printing and after having had a brief chance to view the exhibit in Reno at the Nevada Museum of Art, I was thrilled to come home and read in much more detail the back stories of the artists. I am particularly interested in the women’s roles in this movement and also love seeing the archival photos of the artists themselves.

 Also of keen personal interest are the books and printed materials of this time and this book is loaded with examples. Anyone with an interest in the Arts & Crafts Movement should have this book in their library. I am thoroughly enjoying the design and content of this book!’

These are a few brief comments and general views on a number of books read over recent weeks, continuing with my series of book reviews and comments. The dates indicated are when I completed the book in queation.

15 August 2023

‘The Farmer’s Wife’ by Rachael Treasure, published in 2013, 390 pages –  another light easily read novel of rural life in Australia by this popular author who is also a farmer herself, and often writes from experience.  An enjoyable read again, although on this occasion, I did find the constant references to sex and the male organs a bit off-putting! Putting that aside, a wonderful story read over a couple of nights.

As her website states: ‘Author Rachael Treasure currently lives in southern rural Tasmania with her fiancé Daniel, two comedic teenagers and a collection of blissfully indulged animals’

From a broad range of suppliers and reviewers, the relevant synopsis of the novel reveals the following –

The Deniliquin [NSW] Ute Muster had always been on Rebecca’s wish list, but with the farm and babies, she’d never managed to make it. Tonight, she decided to reclaim herself. After ten years being married to larrikin Charlie Lewis and living on her beloved property, Waters Meeting, Rebecca is confronted by a wife’s biggest fear, a mother’s worst nightmare and a farm business that’s bleeding to death.Can Rebecca find the inner strength she once had as a young jillaroo, to save everything she cherishes? Or is life about to teach her the hardest lesson: that sometimes you simply have to let go.This uplifting and insightful tale deals with the truth about love that the Cinderella stories never tell us. Rebecca’s journey is everywoman’s journey, and a resonant tale for our times.The long-awaited sequel to Rachael Treasure’s bestselling debut, ‘Jillaroo’.

23^rd August 2023

‘The Keeper of Hidden Books’ by Madeline Martin, published in 2023, 387 pages…a tragic, heart-rending, but a wonderfully inspiring story. As the promo on the book cover states: “A heartwarming story about the power of books to bring us together, inspired by the true story of the underground library in WWII Warsaw…”

A couple of quotes taken from the latter stages of the story touched at my feelings and heart.

[1] – ‘They entered the library together, followed by scores of readers ready to celebrate how their love of books helped them through the terrible days of the occupation. For it truly was an event to celebrate when a library whose existence had originated in donated collections almost forty years ago, had now risen from the ashes of war and oppression by virtue of donations once more’ [pages 380-381]………’Good books were like amazing sunsets or awe-inspiring landscapes, better enjoyed with someone else. There was no greater experience in the world than sharing the love of a book, discussing its finer points, and reliving the story all over again’ [page 299].

[2] – ‘Now that it is done, I know I must share these stories so they can never be forgotten. We cannot let the atrocities and persecution of the Jews slip between the cracks of history. We cannot allow education to be stifled or cultures to be erased or books to be banned. Nor can we let the memory of those brave men and women who fought for freedom and what is right disappear in the turning pages of time’ [page 387];

[3] – When Hitler first took Poland, his intent was to relocate or murder 85 percent of Poles, leaving around 15 percent to be used for slave labor, along with completely eradicating the Jewish population. This was part of his Generplan Ost and Lebensraum plans for genocide and German settlement in Eastern Europe, which resulted in the murder of almost three million Polish Jews and almost two million non-Jewish Polish civilians’ [Author’s note];

[4] – ‘The Polish Underground State and Home Army [the military branch of the Polish Underground State] were what coordinated the official Warsaw Uprising [or Rising, as it is referred to in Poland]. In late July, 1944, the Soviet Union promised to help the Home Army defeat their Nazi oppressors. When the Red Army was visible on the other side of the Vistula River in the Praga district, the Home Army assumed their support to be fully ready and decided to attack an August 1 at 5.00 p.m. [a day and time still celebrated in Warsaw today]. It was believed by many that it would be a quick battle lasting only one to three days. As the Polish Home Army and the Nazis fought, however, the Soviets remained in place without offering aid, abandoning the Poles so that they could easily defeat the beleaguered victor and absorb Poland into the Soviet Union……In the end, the Polish Warsaw Uprising that was supposed to last one to three days went on for just over two months. During this time, 150,000 civilians were killed by German troops [40,000 to 50,000 of those were slain in just a few days in the Wola district], with around 20,000 soldiers killed. Of the soldiers fighting with the Home Army, this also included the Gray Ranks, the boys and girls belonging to Poland’s Guides and Boy Scouts, meaning many of these soldiers were between the ages of eleven and eighteen’ [Author’s note].

Shortly after the book was released for publication, Madeline Martin had this to say on her writer’s page, as reviewed on Goodreads    –  “Also, I officially turned this in last month and put everything into writing this book!! What you can expect from The Keeper of Hidden Books – An unbreakable friendship   – Books (including classic authors you know and maybe some Polish ones you don’t)   – A secret book club (oh, yes – I went there)   – Intrepid librarians and true events surrounding the Warsaw public library   – Acts of bravery and kindness and love   – My heart, which I poured into these pages   – To have your tissues handy

26^th August

‘The Sultan and the Queen’  The Untold Story of Elizabeth and Islam  by Jeremy Brotton, pub in 2016, 338 pages.  An interesting book, a little difficult at times to keep track of places, people, etc And, like the ‘Family History of the World Book’ by Simon Sebag   –  which I’m part of the way through at present, and struggling with, mainly because of the extreme violence depicted page after page    – Bottom’s story also depicts the not so pleasant descriptions of the way royalty and leaders treated their own families let alone their perceived enemies.

A different style of history, where in relating his story of the subject, Brotton often uses the works of writers and playwrights like William Shakespeare and others of that era, to illustrate how the relationship between England [and Elizabeth I] and the Islamic world  was presented to the public of the time [at least those who had the time, interest or money to go to the theatres of the day] – this technique is especially prevalent in the second half of the book, where plays of Shakespeare such as Othello, Twelfth Night and Titus Andronicus amongst others,  are often described in  substantial detail as an illustration of what the book’s author is trying to relate in his writings.

A brief precis of the book, as described by Goodreads, puts it into perspective.

The fascinating story of Queen Elizabeth’s secret outreach to the Muslim world, which set England on the path to empire, by The New York Times bestselling author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps
We think of England as a great power whose empire once stretched from India to the Americas, but when Elizabeth Tudor was crowned Queen, it was just a tiny and rebellious Protestant island on the fringes of Europe, confronting the combined power of the papacy and of Catholic Spain. Broke and under siege, the young queen sought to build new alliances with the great powers of the Muslim world. She sent an emissary to the Shah of Iran, wooed the king of Morocco, and entered into an unprecedented alliance with the Ottoman Sultan Murad III, with whom she shared a lively correspondence.
The Sultan and the Queen tells the riveting and largely unknown story of the traders and adventurers who first went East to seek their fortunes—and reveals how Elizabeth’s fruitful alignment with the Islamic world, financed by England’s first joint stock companies, paved the way for its transformation into a global commercial empire.

From the writer’s point of view, as he describes what he is attempting to depict from the following quotation, on page 299 in the Epilogue

“The story told in this book is one of a largely unknown connection between England and the Islamic world, one that emerged out of a very specific set of circumstances during the European Reformation. English history still tends to view the Elizabethan period as defined by the timeless rhythms of agrarian Anglo-Saxon traditions, ethnically pure and exclusively white. But, as I hope this book has shown, there are other aspects to this island’s national story that involve other cultures, and in the Elizabethan period one of them was Islam. To occlude the role Islam played in this past only diminishes its history. Now, when much is made of the ‘clash of civilizations’ between Islam and Christianity, seems to me a good time to remember that the connections between the two faiths are much deeper and more entangled than many contemporary commentators seem to appreciate, and that in the sixteenth century Islamic empires like those of the Ottomans far surpassed the power and influence of a small and relatively insignificant state like Elizabethan England in their military power, political organisation and commercial reach.. It turns out that Isla in all its manifestations – imperial, military and commercial – is part of the British national story.

One way of encouraging tolerance and inclusiveness at a time when both are in short supply is to show both Muslim and Christian communities how, more than four centuries ago, absolute theological belief often yielded to strategic considerations, political pressures and mercantile interests.  In a period of volatile and shifting political and religious allegiances, Muslims and Christians were forced to find a common language of messy and uneasy coexistence. Despite the sometimes intemperate religious rhetoric, the conflict between Christian Europe and the Islamic world was then, as now, defined as much by the struggle for power as precedence as by theology”.

29^th August

‘Restless Dolly Maunder’ by Kate Grenville [published in 2023], 242 pages.  An interesting historical fiction novel, easily reads, and quite enjoyable. I would add the following quotation to my Family History, because the story-line was I thought, reflective of much of the family history I have been writing about, even if much of my writings are guesswork, or family assumptions based on what records were or are available at the time of my research..

“I’ve noted, while working through this document, that so often, the ladies in our story, especially through the C19th and early C20th centuries, often don’t seem to have a great deal to add to the family life, eg, on electoral roles their occupation after marriage is usually described as ‘Home Duties’ [once married, any employment ambitions they may have hoped for, disappear] . That’s not the way I want to present them, but often there is little other information to provide, as perhaps illustrated by the following quotation. From a recent book release, which allows us to put that situation into some kind of perspective. The book ‘Restless Dolly Maunder’ by Kate Grenville [published in 2023] is an historical novel where the author uses family memories to imagine the way into the life of her grandmother, a woman who worked her way through a world of limits and obstacles.

Kate writes near the end of the story:

“The only way we know many of these women born in the 1880’s is from stiff, unreal old studio photos. Unless they were privileged or exceptional, most women vanished from the record. Their lives often can’t be reconstructed beyond a few dates – their births and deaths, when their children were born – and maybe a recipe for drop scones or oxtail soup……It’s only two generations ago, but Dolly’s world seems a foreign country. In the old photos those women in their impossible clothes seem like another species, their lives unimaginable” [p.238-89]”

Dolly Maunder , the subject of this book, was born at the end of the nineteenth century, when society’s long-locked doors were starting to creak ajar for women. Growing up in a poor farming family in country New South Wales but clever, energetic and determined, Dolly spent her restless life pushing at those doors.

Most women like her have disappeared from view, remembered only in family photo albums as remote figures in impossible clothes, or maybe for a lemon-pudding recipe handed down through the generations. Restless Dolly Maunder brings one of these women to life as someone we can recognise and whose struggles we can empathise with.  In this compelling new novel, Kate Grenville uses family memories to imagine her way into the life of her grandmother. This is the story of a woman, working her way through a world of limits and obstacles, who was able—if at a cost—to make a life she could call her own. Her battles and triumphs helped to open doors for the women who came after.

From the Art House Book Review [by Ellie Fisher, 22/8/2023]

In her new novel, Kate Grenville takes her grandmother as muse. Weaving familial histories with graceful prose, she uses memory and research to reimagine the life of Dolly Maunder – bringing into being a textured, nuanced appraisal of intergenerational dynamics.

Born in New South Wales in the early 1880s, Dolly is part of a sprawling sheep-farming family. Quick and intelligent, she excels at school. There, Dolly learns that women can live beyond the scope of the domestic. One of the student teachers is ‘the only woman’ she knows who isn’t ‘at home all day, banging the stove door open and closed, heaving the wet sheets around on washday’. Gradually – ‘like water seeping into sand’ – Dolly grasps the idea that the life ahead of her does not promise much in the way of liberation. ‘If you were born a girl,’ Dolly realises, ‘the life you’d have to live’ was that of obedience. Unless, of course, ‘you could find a way out’. Locating a doorway to autonomy, however, proves difficult within the societal confines of the period.

At the age of 14, like most girls, Dolly leaves school. She works in the familial home, the shadow of her father staining her days. Yet Dolly retains her sense that there is more to life than this obedient drudgery. She earns the eponymous epithet of ‘restless’ from the fact that she pushes at the boundaries set down upon her because of her gender – boundaries that are, gradually, flexing at the seams. Dolly is part of a ‘transition generation’, out of which is birthed the prospect of ‘a different future’ for women.

Marriage presents a trap – but also a potential window to freedom for Dolly. Bert Russell, whom she eventually weds, seems to understand that she is more than simply a reproductive vessel or domestic skivvy. While Bert has a wandering eye, he also allows Dolly space to exercise her faculties through business – and, eventually, teaches her to drive. Together, they build a string of enterprises, which leads to financial success.

Yet Dolly is not invulnerable to the structures of misogyny that surround her, or immune to enacting them upon others. While she finds some sense of liberation through her engagement with capitalism, she inflicts the wounds of intergenerational trauma upon her own daughter – Grenville’s mother, Nance – which leads to interesting writerly positionalities the author explores in the novel.

The scope of Nance’s view of Dolly – who forcefully trampled her daughter’s dreams of an artistic career in order to direct her towards a life of relative financial independence – shifts Grenville’s narrative to a place of speculative understanding. Grenville moves to enact a distant reading on her own family history, in an attempt to understand how her grandmother was shaped into appearing ‘uncaring’, ‘unloving’ and ‘dominating’ to her children. Here, the liberties of fiction allow Grenville to theorise, freeing her to examine the subtleties and ‘complicated feelings’ of her family’s history.

In her closing chapter, ‘Thinking About Silences’, Grenville writes towards an acknowledgement that the life of her grandmother took place on the ‘taking of land’, but that the personal archive of remembered family histories from which she wove the novel ‘record no awareness of the enduring sorrow all the taking meant – and means – for First Nations people’. She recognises that the history of her family is but ‘one story’, and that ‘standing beside it is another’, which, while recognised, goes untold.

In Restless Dolly Maunder – which successfully interweaves memoir, biography and remembrance of things past into a nuanced piece of fiction – Grenville has produced a novel that is unafraid of pushing the scope of what it means to unpick the intricacies of family history. There is a tenderness to the weight of the realities Grenville offers us – an awareness that love can wound, but that it can also redeem.

31^st August

‘That Bligh Girl:  by Sue Williams, published in 2023, 391 pages [a gift prize from National Seniors]. This was another wonderful way to recall a bit of history, and from a different viewpoint, albeit, written as a fascinating piece of historical fiction, easily read and enjoyed.  A story written from the perceived point of view of Mary Blyth, daughter of William Blyth [of Mutiny on the Bounty fame] as she unwillingly accompanies him to New South Wales where he is to take up the role of Governor. But as the book describes, she is no ‘shrinking violet’, and after an horrific six-month sea voyage from Britain, she proves as strong-willed as her bloody-minded father.

But despite being bullied, belittled and betrayed, Mary remains steadfast, even when her desperate father double-crosses her yet again in his final attempt to cling onto power. The pair immediately scandalise Sydney with their personalities, his politics and her pantaloons. And when three hundred armed soldiers of the Rum Rebellion march on Government House to depose him, the governor is nowhere to be seen. Instead, Mary stands defiantly at the gates, fighting them back with just her parasol.

But despite being bullied, belittled and betrayed, Mary remains steadfast, even when her desperate father double-crosses her yet again in his final attempt to cling onto power.

While researching the story for the book  ‘Elizabeth & Elizabeth’, Sue Williams was intrigued by the life of Mary Bligh and found it had a few touchpoints with her own. Both Mary and Sue grew up in London, spent time in Portsmouth, lived in Potts Point and were daughters of a strong-willed father. 

Publishers Allen & Unwin say, ‘Sue Williams returns to give a voice to the previously untold stories of the women in colonial Sydney. Sue is known for her meticulous research and fascinating narratives. That Bligh Girl is no exception.  This is her second novel as she continues to explore the untold stories of the women of colonial Sydney, her previous effort being ‘Elizabeth & Elizabeth’ [Elizabeth Macarthur and Elizabeth Macquarie], both of whom feature prominently in this story of the Bligh’s.

A fascinating imaginary depiction of two lives, based on factual events of the early days of Sydney.

19^th September

‘Bryce Courtney: Storyteller” A Memoir of Australia’s most beloved writer by Christine Courtney, published in 2022, 431 pages [completed 3 August 2022]

This was a wonderful read about one of my favourite readers, only one of whose novels I’ve not been able to obtain so far, ‘The Night Country’ which I noted in this book, was no longer in print, and was difficult to come by.  Christine spent years of research writing this book, especially about his early years in Africa –   apart from  the incorporation in the ‘writings and characters’ of many of his novels, Bryce generally revealed little of  his life in apartheid Africa.  Much of that has been discreetly revealed through the characters and lifestyles depicted in his many novels.

From Booktopia:

When Christine Courtenay began penning her own life story during the 2021 lockdown, she found herself increasingly drawn into the story of her late husband and bestselling author Bryce Courtenay. The manuscript that evolved is the memoir his readers have longed for, and is the first biographical work of one of Australia’s most beloved authors.
Bryce Courtenay was a figure larger than life, and his extraordinary, adventurous, rags-to-riches life story reads like one of his epic fictions – and indeed characters, places, episodes and themes have made their way into his novels. He was born in South Africa, an illegitimate son to Maud Jessamine Greer, who gave him the name ‘Courtenay’, and spent his challenging childhood in a number of small African towns. He was later schooled at an exclusive boarding school in Johannesburg, and worked the dangerous mines of Rhodesia in the fifties to pay his way to journalism school in London, where he met his first wife Benita Solomon. Bryce followed Benita home to Sydney, where they married and raised three sons.
He embarked on a career in advertising, first as a copywriter, that spanned 34 years, and was Creative Director at McCann Erikson, J.Walter Thompson and George Patterson before following his childhood dream to become a novelist. The Power of One was published in 1989, and quickly became an international bestseller. Bryce went on to write another twenty bestsellers, and can only be described as an Australian publishing phenomenon. Bryce and Benita parted ways in 1999. Bryce engaged Christine Gee as his publicist in 1997. She became his partner in 2005, and they married in 2011. Bryce passed away on 22 November 2012, ten days after the publication of his last book, Jack of Diamonds.
Bryce Courtenay: Storyteller is a personal memoir and tribute, featuring untold stories, original insights, extracts from his personal letters and previously unpublished photographs – from the woman who knew and loved him dearly.  That author:  Christine Courtenay (nee Gee) was born in north-eastern Victoria in 1954 and grew up on a cattle property before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University. In 1975 she co-founded Australian Himalayan Expeditions, which offered trekking trips to the Himalayas, and became a world leader in adventure travel. In 1989 she created her own marketing company and was engaged by several pioneering tourism projects. She also worked alongside acclaimed authors, world-renowned mountaineers and polar explorers. Christine served as the Nepalese honorary consul-general in NSW from 1987, and as Nepal attaché during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and was a founding director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation. She was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2013. Christine was Bryce Courtenay’s partner from 2005, and they married in 2011. She has a son called Nima, and continues to enjoy travelling, writing, and walking in wild and beautiful places. She lives in Sydney.

From the Canberra Times [19/11/2022]

Christine Courtenay, the widow of the best-selling Bryce Courtenay, says she felt she knew what it took to write a book. Until she wrote one herself.

The discovery of a cache of letters Bryce Courtenay had written to his mother throughout his life spurred Christine Courtenay to write a memoir of her late husband, the South African-born ad-man turned novelist who dominated the best-seller lists in Australia from 1989 to his death a decade ago, aged 79, in Canberra.

Every year on February 1, Bryce Courtenay started writing a novel. And every year on August 31, he finished the book. Except the year gastric cancer forced him to miss his usual deadline.

“Sometimes I honestly wished he would maybe take a year off, spend more time relaxing, spend more time with his family, friends. And I think, in the end, you just have to respect that that’s like trying to talk a mountaineer out of climbing mountains,” Christine Courtenay says.  Christine Courtenay had started on another book, a record of her life in and amongst the business of adventure travel, before she stumbled on her late husband’s letters home.

“Bryce had never mentioned it. I’ve never seen them. He had a vast archive of things from his life, his working life, his writing life. He was a bit of a bower bird. He sort of never threw things out, but he also didn’t ever go through them,” she says.  “But when I took them upstairs and sat down to read them, I couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t believe it.  “And also that I could see that there were gaps, but they were written from early childhood years right through until when he was writing The Power of One. And they sort of stopped, I guess, after the next couple of books. And then I guess he probably went on to computers, because people didn’t stop writing letters, I guess.

2^nd October

Finally the book   ‘Saga Land: The island of stories at the edge of the World’  by Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason, published in 2017, 447 pages. A combined travel/personal lifestyle and history of Iceland, and the sagas [stories] that were passed down and saved through the centuries. – these sagas revealing the true stories of the first Viking families that settled on that remote island in the Middle Ages. An unusual book, written jointly by two chaps travelling and living in Iceland for 2 months –  an author [Gislason] and radio blogger & presenter and author [Fidler] who share the input to the writing of the book [their research was also presented as a Series on ABC Radio National].

I’ve previously read two of Fidler’s history-based books [and referred to them at the time through this Column] – The Golden Maze [the biography of Prague] and The Book of Roads and Kingdoms [explorations from Baghdad], both fascinating examinations of the history of those two cities.”

From Saga Land – a quote from page 397/398: “Icelanders didn’t forget about the sagas. The stories of the first settlers were reproduced in manuscripts long after the loss of the commonwealth, and over the centuries came to form part of an array of storey types and scholarly works, from fantastical works to royal biographies. But there were few libraries, and for hundreds of years it fell to farmers and merchants to keep the manuscripts in their own private collections. It wasn’t until the sixteenth century, when the first schools were established, that priests and teachers began to look for the most precious of the documents. Even then, they did so with a view to sending them to Sweden and Denmark, as treasures for the royal households of the most powerful nations in the region”.

From the general reviews of the book, we read:

Broadcaster Richard Fidler and author Kári Gíslason are good friends. They share a deep attachment to the sagas of Iceland – the true stories of the first Viking families who settled on that remote island in the Middle Ages  These are tales of blood feuds, of dangerous women, and people who are compelled to kill the ones they love the most. The sagas are among the greatest stories ever written, but the identity of their authors is largely unknown.  Together, Richard and Kári travel across Iceland, to the places where the sagas unfolded a thousand years ago. They cross fields, streams and fjords to immerse themselves in the folklore of this fiercely beautiful island. And there is another mission: to resolve a longstanding family mystery – a gift from Kari’s Icelandic father that might connect him to the greatest of the saga authors.

Reviewing the book for Readings Books, Marie Matteson writes

Fidler and Gíslason met over a radio interview and immediately hit it off. As firm friends, who Kári describes as having a conversation that will never end, it seemed to make sense when Kári said he was off to Iceland, and Richard said he’d go with him. Saga Land starts as many good Icelandic sagas have: two men head off on an adventure. Along the way, they stop to tell stories of the past, to encounter new people, and to reaffirm their friendly and familial bonds. In alternating chapters, Richard and Kári travel to Iceland with the intention of recording a radio series about the sagas, as they travel to the places they belong to. The Icelandic Sagas form one of the great bodies of literature. Written during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, they tell the stories of the Icelanders: from the establishment of Reykjavik in 874 (dated by a volcano eruption) up until the time of writing. They also include the most complete remaining account of Norse mythology.

While the sagas capture and hold the imagination as Richard and Kári travel around Iceland, another family saga closer to home is woven through the tale. Kári’s relationship to his Icelandic heritage has always been complicated by his relationship with his Icelandic family, which had been unacknowledged for much of his childhood. In one of their rare meetings, his father had mentioned a connection to the sagas that Kári had never anticipated. Now was the time to find the end of the tale.

This contribution aims to share my views and those of various more professional reviewers of a number of books I’ve read over recent months.  Books referred to are as listed below.

• The Cartographer’s Secret by Tea Cooper [2021];
• Go As A River by Shelley Read [2023];
• The Digger of Kakoda by Daniel Lane [2022];
• Bill Wannan Selects Stories of Old Australia by Bill Wannan [1976];
• The Porcelain Moon by Janie Chang [2023];
• Rose by Suzanne Faulkner [2022];
• The Fossil Hunter by Tea Cooper [2022];
• The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams [2023];
• The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop [2023];
• Homecoming by Kate Morton [2023];
• The Naked Island by Russell Braddon [1952].

5^th April 2023

‘The Cartographer’s Secret’ by Tea Cooper, published in 2021, 362 pages  –  the second of Cooper’s novels I’ve read, and completed the book over 2 days.  Another one of those rural based novels, with a touch of mystery about it, and written as an historical novel, essentially dealing with the unsolved disappearance of the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt.  An entertaining, easy to read Australian based novel – as with all local novels of this sort, I enjoy the historical element applied to a fictional story.

The book synopsis.

A map into the past. A long-lost young woman. And a thirty-year family mystery.  The Hunter Valley, 1880. Evie Ludgrove loves to chart the landscape around her home—hardly surprising since she grew up in the shadow of her father’s obsession with the great Australian explorer Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt. So when an advertisement appears in The Bulletin magazine offering a thousand-pound reward for proof of where Leichhardt met his fate, Evie is determined to use her father’s papers to unravel the secret. But when Evie sets out to prove her theory, she vanishes without a trace, leaving behind a mystery that haunts her family for thirty years.
Letitia Rawlings arrives at the family estate in her Ford Model T to inform her great-aunt Olivia of a loss in their family. But Letitia is also escaping her own problems—her brother’s sudden death, her mother’s scheming, and her dissatisfaction with the life planned out for her. So when Letitia discovers a beautifully illustrated map that might hold a clue to the fate of her missing aunt, Evie Ludgrove, she sets out to discover the truth. But all is not as it seems, and Letitia begins to realize that solving the mystery of her family’s past could offer as much peril as redemption…………………..Described as a gripping historical mystery, the Cartographer’s Secret follows a young woman’s quest to heal a family rift as she becomes entangled in one of Australia’s greatest historical puzzles –  a Daphne du Maurier Award Winner, 2021.

As reviewed by Gini Grossenbacher for the Historical Novel Society  –

[a couple of errors below –  her brother dies after a boat explosion, and the timeline between the two parts of the story is 30 years].

In 1880, at her house at Yellow Rock, New South Wales, talented Australian sketch artist Evie Ludgrove shares her father’s obsession with the famous explorer Dr. Ludwig Leichardt, who vanished in the Australian wilderness. After creating a map that follows her father’s leads and seeking The Bulletin magazine’s thousand-pound reward, she heads out into the wilderness on a quest to find Leichardt’s last known whereabouts. On her expedition, she vanishes without leaving any clues to her disappearance.

In 1911, following the loss of her brother Thorne in an automobile accident, Letitia Rawlings escapes her wealthy mother’s house in Sydney. She moves to Evie Ludgrove’s former dwelling to stay with her aunt Olivia, who remains haunted by Evie’s disappearance after twenty years. Captivated by Evie’s story and curious about what happened to her, Lettie follows points north from Yellow Rock toward Aberdeen. With the help of the drover Nathaniel and the blacksmith Denman, she embarks on a quest to follow Evie’s map and discover where she vanished. After a series of loops following the crash of her tin lizzie, the group makes startling discoveries that may lead her to Evie’s last known place.

Lettie’s growing attraction for Nathaniel highlights the social rift between the drover society and the landed gentry in Sydney. He becomes involved with Lettie in her search for Evie, helping her navigate her journey’s challenging physical and emotional landscape. Yet, they face an unknown future since they are from different social classes.

Tea Cooper’s meticulous prose and deft phrasing delight the reader. Her storytelling weaves the places on Evie’s map in tandem with the search Lettie makes so that the reader becomes immersed in a distant world. The reader yearns along with Lettie (and Evie, too) for the answer to Leichardt’s disappearance and wants Lettie and Nathaniel to surmount the chasm that separates them. This fascinating novel informs the reader about Australia’s storied past.

8^th April 2023

‘Go As A River’ by Shelley Read, published in 2023, 305 pages –  tuned out to be a beautiful story!

In summary form –    Victoria Nash is just a teenager in the 1940s, but she runs the household on her family’s peach farm in the ranch town of Iola, Colorado—the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men. Wilson Moon is a young drifter with a mysterious past, displaced from his tribal land in the Four Corners region, who wants to believe one place is just like another. When Victoria encounters Wil on a street corner, their unexpected connection ignites as much passion as danger and as many revelations as secrets. Victoria flees into the beautiful but harsh wilderness of the nearby mountains when tragedy strikes. Living in a small hut, she struggles to survive in the unforgiving conditions with no clear notion of what her future will be. What happens afterward is her quest to regain all that she has lost, even as the Gunnison River rises to submerge her homeland and the only life she has ever known. Go as a River is a story of love and loss but also of finding home, family, resilience—and love—where least expected.

From Readings Review [March 2023] – “Nestled in the foothills of the Elk mountains and surrounded by sprawling forests, the Gunnison River rushes by the tiny town of Iola. For 17-year-old Victoria Nash, the day promises to be ordinary. But the mysterious drifter who crosses her path that afternoon will set in motion an unstoppable chain of events.  Victoria will be forced to run for the forests, leaving her life – and her most precious possession – behind’

A general synopsis

On a cool autumn day in 1948, Victoria Nash delivers late-season peaches from her family’s farm set amid the wild beauty of Colorado, then heads into the village. As she nears an intersection, a dishevelled stranger stops to ask her the way. How she chooses to answer will unknowingly alter the course of both their young lives.

So begins the mesmerising story of split-second choices and courageous acts that propel Victoria away from the only home she has ever known and towards a reckoning with loss, hope and her own untapped strength.

Gathering all the pieces of her small and extraordinary existence, spinning through the eddies of desire, heartbreak and betrayal, she will arrive at a single rocky decision that will change her life for ever.

From Booklovers’ Review

Go As A River is truly haunting historical fiction. 

Shelley Read’s debut novel has one of the most impactful Prologues I have ever read.

“My home is at the bottom of a lake. Our farm lies there, mud bound, its remants indistinguishable from boat wreckage. Sleek trout troll the remains of my bedroom and the parlor where we sat as a family on Sundays. Barns and troughs rot. Tangled barded wire rusts. The once fertile land marinates in idleness.”

This first-hand perspective really hammers home the impact of building dams has not just on the natural landscape, but also people and their history. 

Go As A River is a literary novel in the sense that Shelley Read’s descriptions are uncommonly vivid, perceptive and nuanced. She brings alive on the page our capacity to connect with and derive energy from nature. But the Prologue aside, Victoria Nash’s heart wrenchingly stoic first-person narrative and painfully swift coming-of-age is basically told chronologically. There’s no overt structural complexity or linguistic swordplay so often found in the genre. For me this novel’s power stems from the depths to which it plumbs raw and authentic emotions.

In Go As A River Shelley Read explores with an engaging juxtaposition of sensitivity and pragmatism, the scars of bigotry, racism, war and women’s inequality. And more specifically the trauma some individuals had to, and in many contexts continue to, endure in society’s painfully slow journey towards open minds and hearts.

Like so many throughout history, Victoria Nash’s fictional life story was no Disney movie. She carried burdens larger than she ever should have had need to, but did so with inspiring grit, determination and dignity.

… I’ve come to understand how the exceptional lurks beneath the ordinary, like the deep and mysterious world beneath the surface of the sea.”

I highly recommend Shelley Read’s Go As A River to those looking for earthy, simply told yet powerful historical fiction that provokes reflection.

12 April 2023

I finished reading ‘The Digger of Kokoda [The Official Biography of Reg Chard]  by Daniel Lane [published in 2022], 333 pages  – in this book, 98 year old Reg Chard shares his story of courage and resilience on the Kokoda Trail [or Track] –   a wonderful, enlightening read, inspiring, deeply moving, healing,  but also sadly in part because of the nature of the story,  horrifically traumatic, with vivid descriptions  of the sheer extreme inculcated brutality, emotional detachment and unrelenting fanaticism of the troops our soldiers were trying to protect Australia from invasion  in the early 1940s.!!.

Brief overview:  Reg Chard endured hell as an 18-year-old Australian soldier who fought in 1942 on the infamous Kokoda Trail in World War II.
Ironically, Kokoda rescued Reg decades later when he decided to take his own life. After losing Betty, his wife of 66 years, the grief-stricken great-grandfather lost the will to live. But he found new purpose through educating young people, giving guided tours of Sydney’s Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway.  On these tours, Reg relives Kokoda every day. He sees an image on the wall of a soldier – a comrade – who succumbed to disease weeks after the photograph was taken. He feels his heart beating as his patrol chases down Japanese troops who had mutilated women in a jungle clearing. He hears the war cry of a samurai sword-wielding officer charging towards him. And he tells these stories along the walkway, preserving the memory of those who never came home.

As one of the last surviving diggers of Kokoda, Reg Chard has become a custodian of its legacy. This deeply moving, healing and inspiring biography of the 98-year-old veteran tells us of Reg’s war in the jungle and how, 80 years after the battle that saved Australia, Kokoda still lives within him.

Some of the praises for this book.

• ‘Reading the story of Reg Chard and his fellow servicemen only reinforces how grateful we all should be to the soldiers who sacrificed everything in order for us to have the privileged life we often take for granted. These men were full of bravery, courage and conviction yet were regularly battling against the odds in the knowledge they may not see out the day. Every word of this story has meaning, importance and impact and I for one am indebted to those who have served our nation to make it what it is today.’ – Steve Waugh
• ‘The Digger of Kokoda is a gripping read about an all-Australian hero, Reg Chard, who like so many of that WWII generation had greatness in him, only revealed when he was called on to put everything on the line for his country. This biography evocatively portrays the hardships of the Kokoda campaign, the sacrifices made, and the irrepressible spirit of the Australian soldiers and nursing sisters. Bravo the lot of them, and this book.’ – Peter Fitzsimons
• ‘The lessons and life experiences of Reg Chard are ones all Australians today could learn a lot from. The Digger of Kokoda was very honest and gave me a new perspective and understanding of what they went through and why. Warm, moving, heartbreaking and inspiring in equal measure. The greatest lesson I take from Reg is his quote: “Make the most of life, because no matter how bad something may seem, life goes on – just make sure you go with it.”‘ – Emma McKeon
• ‘A lifetime ago, no series of battles were more critical nor horrendous than those of the New Guinea campaign – Kokoda and the likes of Sanananda. Reg Chard was a typical and thus extraordinary digger who fought in those battles and survived, to this day mourning and honouring his many mates who fell. This brilliant account by Daniel Lane, of Reg’s war service, reminds us all of the price of peace so many of our predecessors have paid. A great story.’ – General Sir Peter Cosgrove
• ‘I have an immense respect and admiration for Reg Chard – the Digger of Kokoda. He’s a genuine Australian hero whose story could help teach our nation’s youth the importance of resilience, grit, and mateship. Reg, and others like him, should be honoured in our school system to ensure the Anzac/Kokoda spirit thrives . . . reading this man’s powerful story is a perfect start to guaranteeing that.’ – Danny Green
• ‘Reg Chard’s biography transported me straight back to the jungle in New Guinea and rekindled memories of walking the Trail later in my life. The written word of the Kokoda Trail will last long into history like the track itself. The Digger of Kokoda is essential reading for any Australian.’ – Keith Payne VC
• ‘The Digger of Kokoda offers a deeper understanding of what it means to be an Australian and the inspiration to be a better person.’ – Dr Brendan Nelson
  ‘In a world where an internet outage is deemed a catastrophe, The Digger of Kokoda is a masterclass in perspective and relativity. If this book doesn’t get you to the Dawn Service on Anzac Day, nothing will.’ – John Schumann
• ‘Grittily honest, told with great sensitivity, this is the finest account of Kokoda by a front-line soldier that I’ve read. Reg Chard, only 18 when he fought the Japanese in Papua, tells much more than another “mud and blood” story. Now 98, he shows how the experience touched his life and, in an extraordinary twist, saved him from his own demons after his wife died. The true story of a boy soldier who faced some of the worst battles of the Pacific War.’ – Paul Ham
• ‘In Reg Chard’s compelling account of Kokoda, we gain a unique insight into war’s madness … The Digger of Kokoda is a modern digger’s time capsule full of the human lessons of war and soldering that never change.’ -Anthony ‘Harry’ Moffitt
• ‘Reg’s memoir reminds us of all the extraordinary acts committed by ordinary people and fills a Digger like myself with pride in the honour of donning the same badge they wore.’ – Damien Thomlinson
• ‘Raw, vivid and searingly honest, Reg Chard’s personal account of Kokoda is one of the most moving I’ve ever read. From the nightmare of Eora Creek to the terrible swamps of Sanananda, I felt I was right there, and it’s not a pretty place. One of the last true voices, Reg reaches across the decades to remind us of what our men did, and how much they endured.’ – Michael Veitch

The author, Daniel Lane, has been a sports journalist for over 30 years, including time with Australian Consolidated Press, AAP, Network 10 and the Sydney Morning Herald. He has written 18 books, and scripts for three televised documentaries/shows. He has visited the battlefields of Gallipoli, the Western Front, El Alamein, Singapore and Malaya, and for decades has interviewed veterans of the Boer War and both world wars, including Kokoda. The biography of Reg Chard, The Digger of Kokoda, is his first military memoir.

13^th April 2023

This was a little book given to me by a friend back in  2013 – I had kept it in my car glovebox, and was reading a few pages at a time when waiting for an appointment, etc. I finally  decided to take it out of the car,  and finish it.  ‘Bill Wannan Selects Stories of Old Australia ‘ edited by Bill Wannan, published in 1976, with 158 pages.  This edition published by Sun Books, Melbourne.

An interesting selection of stories, and poems from the past, some a bit doubtful as far as comprehending the point of the story was [especially the odd poem], but overall a worthwhile historical collection.

‘Australia’s great store of folklore so richly mined and revived by Bill Wannan contains gems that can be readily retold –  he called them ‘tales of common acceptance’. Stories which have been passed from generation to generation, traditional stories, folk-tales and bush jests  – often changed as they were retold to assure them of a permanent place in Australia’s folk literature.

There are 28 stories and poems, arranged in order of their first appearance in print, and provided with a brief historical background to both story and author..

The collection is a valuable rendition of some of the common themes of Australian folklore, such as the noble savage, the ghostly happening, the lost child, the swearing teamsters and bush giants, gentlemen convicts and bushrangers

23^rd April 2023

Born in Taiwan, author Janie Chang has lived in the Philippines, Iran, Thailand, and New Zealand. She now lives on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada with her husband.

Janie Chang’s latest novel [The Porcelain Moon, published in 2023] is an historical novel about a little-known piece of history, that of the 140,000 Chinese workers brought to Europe as non-combatant labor during WWI, and ‘employed’ by either the British forces, or the French – 90,000 of them as part of the British Expeditionary Forces, while the rest were signed up with the French working for private French companies in war related industries and in agriculture. When the Americans entered the war, the French loaned about 10,000 of the labourers to the Americans.

The Chinese were in fact the largest and longest-serving contingent of non-European labor, manpower that kept the machinery of war running. Afterwards they cleared up battlefields, and cleaned the rubble from devastated towns, so that the local population could start to get back to a normal life; they cleared the trenches and bomb craters, ridding them of decomposing corpses of men and animals,, abandoned equipment, clothing and blankets. . This was particularly the case with those employed by the British military who insisted they had to fulfill their contracts before being allowed to return home. Most were peasants and only about 20% were literate, and the British in particular took full advantage of their lowly status. And while as non- combatants they supposedly were to work behind the frontlines, those lines continually shifted, and many died during their time in Europe from aerial attacks, wartime incidents and accidents, and from disease.

How they were treated [apart from the general hostility from the French population to hundreds of foreigners being present during and after the war, remembering that in 1911, a Census revealed only 238 Chinese living in France], in particular by the British, quite often depended on which military commander was in charge of a particular group

Well, the book ‘The Porcelain Moon’ is a tale of forbidden love, identity and belonging, and what we are willing to risk for freedom., a beautifully written story about this little-known piece of history from the 1st World War, presented for the readers as an historical novel of that time. Worth a read, another lesson in history.

General summary

France, 1918. In the final days of the First World War, a young Chinese woman, Pauline Deng, runs away from her uncle’s home in Paris to evade a marriage being arranged for her in Shanghai. To prevent the union, she needs the help of her cousin Theo, who is working as a translator for the Chinese Labour Corps in the French countryside. In the town of Noyelles-sur-Mer, Camille Roussel is planning her escape from an abusive marriage, and to end a love affair that can no longer continue. When Camille offers Pauline a room for her stay, the two women become friends. But it’s not long before Pauline uncovers a perilous secret that Camille has been hiding from her. As their dangerous situation escalates, the two women are forced to make a terrible decision that will bind them together for the rest of their lives.

Set against the little-known history of the 140,000 Chinese workers brought to Europe as non-combatant labor during WWI, The Porcelain Moon is a tale of forbidden love, identity and belonging, and what we are willing to risk for freedom.

From the Asian Review of Books

During the Great War, 140,000 Chinese laborers were recruited to work in England and France in order to free up men in those countries to fight. Janie Chang uses this corner of history as the backdrop of her new historical novel, The Porcelain Moon. While the two characters at the center of the story—a young Chinese woman named Pauline Deng and a French woman named Camille Roussel—are fictional, Chang indicates in her author’s note that many of the landmarks and other details of the Chinese labor camps she writes about are based on real places.

Pauline is orphaned at a young age after her parents die in an automobile accident and is taken in by her uncle Louis. She moves from Shanghai to Paris a decade before the war when her uncle and cousin Theo set up an antique store called La Pagode, a real shop dating back to the late 1920s. The Dengs take their time getting used to their new city.

 During their first weeks in Paris, the three of them lived in a small hotel, a pension de famille, while her uncle looked for a building suitable for both store and home. Sometimes Theo and Pauline went with him, trailing behind as he inspected one building after another, accompanied by an estate agent and a translator hired through the Chinese consulate in Paris. More often than not, one or two men from Paris’s small community of Chinese merchants also joined them, curious to meet the new arrivals and eager to offer opinions.

 Louis finds the perfect building on the Rue de Lisbonne for both La Pagode and their home. The Dengs establish their new business in Paris and a decade later the story jumps to Noyelles-sur-Mer, a rural town that faces the English channel. It’s there that Chinese workers would be employed three years into the war.

 On a fine April afternoon in 1917 the first Chinese laborers arrived on the train from Calais. They formed rows of four on the platform and then marched smartly through town, following a British officer to the new camp. The entire population of Noyelles—women, children, and old men—rushed out to see them. Children ran alongside the impromptu parade.

 Louis wants Theo to return to Shanghai to marry the woman betrothed to him years earlier, but in order to delay this inevitability, Theo finds work as a translator in the British Chinese Labour Corps, which ran this outpost in Noyelles. He meets a young married woman named Camille in Noyelles and falls into a dangerous affair with her. At the same time, Pauline is pursued by a creepy Chinese national named Mah while her interests instead lie with a young foreign correspondent named Henri Liu.

Camille has her own ties to China, although nefarious. She grew up surrounded by almost as many Chinese antiquities as found at the Dengs’ La Pagode. Her father Auguste had been in the military in Peking during the Boxer Rebellion.

 When Auguste’s troop was dispatched to rescue European civilians and soldiers inside the International Legations, under attack by Chinese Boxers and the Imperial Chinese Army, he had been told they would be fighting barbarians. But everything he saw, the architecture and gardens, the exquisite craftsmanship, the private libraries, told him otherwise. They were plundering a civilized society.

 And plunder they did. Auguste went to confession as soon as he could, but the priest assured Auguste he was just doing his duty as a soldier and that what he took from Peking was simply “spoils of war”. Auguste was haunted by this all his life and made his own confession to Camille while he was on his deathbed.

Other parts of the story also take on a Hollywood ambiance, as most of the loose ends seem to be resolved by the end of the book. Even so, Chang’s storytelling is compelling because she combines this cinematic story with an overlooked part of the Great War.

By Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author

rom the critically acclaimed author of The Library of Legends comes a vividly rendered novel set in WWI France about two young women—one Chinese, one French—whose lives intersect with unexpected, potentially dangerous consequences.

“East meets West in World War I France. In The Porcelain Moon, Janie Chang exhibits her signature trademarks—lyrical prose, deftly drawn characters, and skillful excavation of little-known history—to give us a rare jewel in a sea of wartime fiction!”

22^nd May 2023

For readers of history – a book about a subject and personality that’s probably not familiar to most people  –  ‘Rose’ by Suzanne Falkner, published in 2022.   Not an easy read with regular quotations in the original French used by our correspondent, the main character in the book. This is the extraordinary voyage of Rose de Freycinet, the stowaway [with the knowledge and approval of her sea-faring captain husband] who sailed around the world with him, for love over the years 1817-1820.

I found this a fascinating description  of a world sea voyage of that time, which included visits  to much of the Pacific area, South America, and Australasia as well as a stopover in Sydney Cove in 1819, and much earlier, a period on the isolated west coast of the new colony. Beginning with an exploration of the voyages of  Nicolas Thomas Baudin (1754 –1803) ,  a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific, many of which outcomes were in conflict with the explorations of Matthew Flinders. Those voyages provided the impetus for the three year journey by  Rose’s husband, Louis de Freycinet.

From the book summary  – ‘In 1814,  in the aftermath of the French Revolution, nineteen-year-old Rose Pinon married handsome naval officer Louis  de Freycinet, fifteen years her senior. Three years later, unable to bear parting from her husband, she dressed in men’s clothing and slipped secretly aboard his ship the day before it sailed on a voyage of scientific discovery to the South Seas. Living for three years as the sole female among 120 men, Rose defied not only bourgeois society’s expectations of a woman at that time, but also a strict prohibition against women sailing on French naval ships.  Whether dancing at governors’ balls in distant colonies,  or evading pirates and meeting armed Indigenous warriors on remote Australian shores, or surviving shipwreck in the wintry Falkland Islands, Rose used her quick pen to record her daily experiences, In doing so, she became the first woman to circumnavigate the world and leave a record of her journey”.

Those writings – through her diary, and letters to her mother and sister [most of which took six months or more to reach their destination in France, if they arrived at all] – form the basis of the story of this journey. While various histories of Rose have tendered to doctor her writings to make them more acceptable to the reaching public.  Falkiner’s novel reveals them as they were written.  If you can get through a very concise and detailed piece of writing, through 404 pages  –  where while now and then, Rose’s  French is not always  translated into English   and which ends with an excellent summary of Rose’s legacy to history, and a section on the translation techniques used  –  cope with all that, and it’s worth the effort,.

29^th June 2023

This book is titled  ‘The Fossil Hunter’ by Tea Cooper, an  historical novel, published in 2022, 374 pages.   Another somewhat unusual story, the usual mix of historical facts and the kind of novel which I generally enjoy, also the 3^rd of her books I’ve read in recent months.  A story dealing with archaeology and that general vein of subject matter..

A fossil discovered at London’s Natural History Museum leads one woman back in time to nineteenth century Australia and a world of scientific discovery and dark secrets in this compelling historical mystery.

Buried secrets. An ancient fossil. And one woman’s determination to unravel a nineteenth-century mystery.

Australia, 1847. The last thing Mellie Vale remembers before the fever takes her is sprinting through the bush with a monster at her heels—but no one believes her. In a bid to curb Mellie’s overactive imagination, her benefactors send her to visit a family friend, Anthea Winstanley. Anthea is an amateur palaeontologist who is convinced she will one day find proof that great sea dragons swam in the vast inland sea that covered her property millions of years ago. Mellie is instantly swept up in the dream.

Australia, 1919. Penelope Jane “PJ” Martindale arrives home from the battlefields of World War I intent on making peace with her father and commemorating the deaths of her two younger brothers in the trenches. Her reception is disappointing. Desperate for a distraction, she finds a connection between a fossil at London’s Natural History Museum and her brothers’ favorite camping spot. But the gorge has a sinister incident from seventy years ago, several girls disappeared from the area. When PJ uncovers some unexpected remains, she’s determined to find answers about what happened all those years ago … and perhaps some closure on the loss of her brothers. Weaving together these two timelines, The Fossil Keeper offers everything you need –  history, mystery, suspense, romance, and startling discoveries that will keep the pages turning. Praise for The Fossil “This elegant dual narrative historical from Cooper follows a young woman as she pieces together the fate of a 19th-century paleontologist …

“This elegant dual narrative historical from Cooper follows a young woman as she pieces together the fate of a 19th-century paleontologist … Cooper’s confident prose and deep empathy for her characters will keep readers hooked as she unspools her intrigue-filled mystery. Historical fans will want to dig this one up.” — Publishers Weekly

Tea Cooper writes Australian contemporary and historical fiction. In a past life she was a teacher, a journalist and a farmer. These days she haunts museums and indulges her passion for storytelling.

16^th July 2023 

A wonderful read –   ‘The Bookbinder of Jericho’ by Pip Williams, published in 2023, of 438 pages  –  a beautifully written historical novel, set during the years  of WW I, and into the period of the post-war world wide plague. It is basically written through the eyes of the women of that time in Britain [and in first person narrative by the central character, a bookbinder named Peggy] and relates especially to the effects of the war on employment in Britain as women are required to take over many of the roles formerly carried out by their menfolk, the consequences of the arrival of  Belgian refugees repatriated to Britain after the devastation of that small nation by the Nazis, and the lives of the many volunteer nurses and others on the immediate front lines of battle. In the words of one reviewer – ‘‘Heart wrenching and bittersweet, The Bookbinder of Jericho is a lovingly woven story of hardship, longing and hope. Pip Williams writes with great insight and fascinating detail of working-class women, the war effort and World War I refugees. It was such a pleasure to spend time with these completely charming women.’                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                          . 

A couple of promo reviews.

• In 1914, when the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight, it is the women who must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who work in the bindery at Oxford University Press in Jericho. Peggy is intelligent, ambitious and dreams of studying at Oxford University, but for most of her life she has been told her job is to bind the books, not read them. Maude, meanwhile, wants nothing more than what she has. She is extraordinary but vulnerable. Peggy needs to watch over her.  When refugees arrive from the devastated cities of Belgium, it sends ripples through the community and through the sisters’ lives. Peggy begins to see the possibility of another future where she can use her intellect and not just her hands, but as war and illness reshape her world, it is love, and the responsibility that comes with it, that threaten to hold her back.
• In this beautiful novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams explores another little-known slice of history seen through women’s eyes. Evocative, subversive and rich with unforgettable characters, The Bookbinder of Jericho is a story about knowledge – who gets to make it, who gets to access it, and what is lost when it is withheld.
• ‘A boldly feminist novel that sings with the joy of life and the miracle of the printed word. Williams’ second novel was absolutely worth the wait.’ – Ben Hunter, fiction category manager [Booktopia]

Writing for Readings, by Kate McinIntosh

This story begins in July 1914, several years after Esme hid her first word in The Dictionary of Lost Words. Another young woman is hard at work, this time at the Oxford University Press. The Press was (and still is today) responsible for publishing academic books of all kinds, and the ‘girls’ fold and sew the pages together at the bindery, only ever seeing tiny sections of the pages, a line, half a sentence, enough to tease but not to know. For Peggy Jones, the not knowing is almost too much to bear. Having left school early to help her mother and twin sister at the bindery, being surrounded by books and yet kept away from a decent education, hurts more than she could ever admit. That the bindery sits across the road from Somerville College, a women’s college created when women could not obtain a degree, only adds salt to the wound every working day. And to be folding page after page and not a single one of them written by a woman – why should it be ‘a woman’s place to inspire stories, not to write them’?!

With the outbreak of war, life changes for Peggy. While her sister, Maude, is ‘one of a kind’ and Peggy has always felt responsible for her, that feeling has only increased since the death of their mother. An opportunity arises for Peggy to try to get into Oxford, but her class, role as a carer, her gender, and self-doubt all hold her back. Can she be everything she needs to be to all of those around her, and fulfill her dreams as well? (What woman hasn’t asked herself that exact question at some point in time?)

Williams has given us a historical novel full of relevance for today. She describes a world where women were held back by a lack of education and a voice. Over one hundred years later, women are still prevented from attending school in some countries, and class can still dictate how much a person can achieve. And yet, what I loved most about this story was that in a book about the importance of having a voice and being able to express yourself, it is the characters who say the least, those of Lotte and Maude, who still haunt me. The empathy, the love and the steadfast stubbornness of all of the women in this book make it a joy to read, and the passion for creating something beautiful, something that will last, will resonate with everyone who has ever held a treasured copy of a much-loved book in their hands.

A thoroughly enjoyable, at times disturbing, story  –  I recommend it  to discerning readers out there  😊

19^th July 2023

Another novel from 2023 –   ‘The Anniversary’ by Australia’s Stephanie Bishop,  published in 2023, with 424 pages.  and another  great read  – very in-depth literary writing, perfectly described by one scribe  in terms of ‘Stephanie Bishop’s attention to detail reveals the minutiae of an intimate relationship, pitched against the backdrop of a life-changing traumatic event  –  a style which left myself, who has written various contributions on all manner of subjects [including the written family history still in progress] to realise just how far out of depth I was in terms of ‘real’ writing skills  As the Weekend Australian noted in a recent review – ‘A surprisingly dark and complex novel. It is intelligent and literary in the best sense of the word: fluent in style, self-aware in its deployment of genre’, or from the Saturday Age: ‘The Anniversary is bejewelled with lovely moments and undeniably exquisite writing’. While ‘Good Reading’ simply states – “With its beautiful prose and vivid imagery, this novel  belies the intense emotional turmoil at its heart’.

Written in the first person again  –  “There were things that I wanted to say. Things I knew I couldn’t say but needed to tell someone. And then the things I knew I should say. What they wanted to hear. There is never only one version” [perhaps a reflection of life generally!!].

The outline  –  Novelist JB Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Her one-time professor, Patrick is much older than JB. A maverick when they met, he seemed somehow ageless, as all new gods appear in the eyes of those who worship them. He is a film director. A cult figure. But now his success is starting to wane and JB is on the cusp of winning a major literary prize. Her art, that has been forever overseen by Patrick, is starting to overshadow his.

For days they sail in the sun. They lie about drinking, reading, sleeping, having sex. There is nothing but dark water all around them.  Then a storm hits. When Patrick falls overboard, JB is left alone, as the search for Patrick’s body, the circumstances of his death and the truth about their marriage begins, with all the wrong, sometimes right, assumptions made by the media and public about their relationship!!

The Sydney Morning Herald review [by Helen Elliott, on April 7^th] is worth sharing here.’

That Friedrich Nietzsche. You might roll your eyes and wonder if he could still be saying things folk in 2023 might find interesting. Well, get past that moustache and listen. Here is what he said about desire: “Ultimately, it is the desire, not the desired, that we love.”

He wrote this acute line nearly 150 years ago. And here, in The Anniversary, Stephanie Bishop is doing the forensics on Nietzsche’s astute line in a stout new novel. Because women had yet to be invented, his truth was purely male. Stephanie Bishop’s truth is purely female. She has this enigmatic epigraph (never neglect the epigraphs) from Simone de Beauvoir: “To be sure, the future of the woman I have been may turn me into someone other than myself.”

J. B. Blackwood is a novelist in early middle age. She has just heard that she has won one of the glittering literary prizes and is expected in New York to accept it. Her partner, Patrick, is a famous film director and public intellectual and considerably older. J. B. had met him when she was taking his course at university, she so in awe that she could scarcely speak, and “he one of the most beautiful and elegantly dressed men I had known: crisp shirts and shiny Italian shoes.”

But things happen – desire happens – and they become lovers. They marry. The anniversary of the title is the celebration of the 14th wedding anniversary, the year of ivory, symbolising patience and stability.

J. B. books a luxury cruise of 18 days, starting from Alaska, travelling through Japan and ending in America. The cruise is booked before she knows about the prize because she is determined to do something pleasurable and romantic with an altered Patrick, a man always frantic with work, who falls asleep in front of television and, most appallingly, is no longer elegant. He is even disinclined to showering. The prize ceremony can be tacked on to the end of the cruise, so ever So this bleak tale rolls out. In a wild storm in waters close to Japan’s northernmost island Hokkaido, there’s an accident. Patrick falls overboard and his body is not found until days later. The novel, at this point, turns into a thriller. Or perhaps a mystery? The courteous Japanese investigators seem to believe that someone pushed him into the sea, and J. B. is escorted from the ship to face endless questioning by people who are from a very different culture. The Japanese assume her guilt.

But we are allowed to enter into another tale, told by her, the almost-famous author who, it seems, is no longer the passive, admiring young woman who was only too happy to sleep with the famous professor when he invited her into his taxi one wet night. To her credit, she did not know immediately that he had a partner with a very new baby.

The baby, Joshua, is now an implacable, hurt 17-year-old and it is his behaviour that causes J. B. to insist on the cruise. One established fact about desire is that it has consequences in the real world.

The Anniversary has a wide list of characters, all necessary to the plot, but it is narrated by J. B., so we are constantly in her head. It takes energy to remain there because, like hearing other people’s dreams, it just is not that interesting much of the time. Deep into the book she writes about her own way of writing and compares it to Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, the famous 1975 film by Chantal Akerman in which Akerman let the camera stay for a very long time on the face of the female actor.

“We watch her watching her thoughts, watch her having them, sitting so still at the glass-topped dining table.” J. B. continues to explain that when she is writing a novel “there is always something I am waiting to find out”.

The Anniversary is bejewelled with lovely moments and undeniably exquisite writing, a fine education about desire, but perhaps we have to wait too long before we know what we need to find out. It is, though, never less than an admirable and ambitious investigation into some troublesome contemporary things about men and women and the forces of desire, not just sexual but creative desire.

Marcel Proust, always helpful, should have the last word: “Desire makes everything blossom; possession makes everything wither and fade.” Proust? Nietzsche? De Beauvoir? Still here, still relevant, still necessary.

From The New York Times [C.J.Hauser, July 16]

In love, in art, in crime, what is done intentionally and what is done unintentionally? This is the question at the core of Stephanie Bishop’s fourth novel, “The Anniversary.”

When we meet our narrator, J.B. Blackwood, a mixed-race Australian author, she has just learned she’s won a major literary prize for a still-unreleased semi-autobiographical novel. The news hasn’t been announced publicly and she has yet to tell her husband, Patrick, a white, British, indie-darling filmmaker 20 years her senior and her former college professor. It will be a nice surprise for him, she tells the reader, but after the international cruise she and Patrick have planned to celebrate their 14th anniversary and to get away from their troubles at home in England.

On the cruise, Patrick and J.B. fight, Patrick gets drunk, and then falls overboard during a storm. Afterward, authorities search for, and find, Patrick’s body; J.B. winds up giving a witness report to police officers in Japan; and she is feted onstage at the prize ceremony for her novel, all in the same week. The cause of the accident and the high-profile publicity for J.B.’s book in the wake of Patrick’s death form the plot of the story, but it’s J.B. herself, an unreliable narrator at once completely confessional and narratively coy, who is the major engine that drives it.

The first half of the novel is eventful and atmospheric. J.B. describes the circumstances of her life — a mother disappeared in her youth, an affair with her professor-now-husband and even his death — with what feels like an eerie calm. Yet this narration turns deliciously complex when the known facts are reshaped as J.B. returns to them with increasing honesty and nuance. In its latter half, “The Anniversary” grows into a feminist commentary on the nature of mysteries and marriages.

Bishop skillfully invokes and revises the “forbidden passion” trope of a relationship between an older teacher and a young ingénue. J.B. tells us that as a student, she climbed into a cab with Patrick both to avoid the rain after a seminar and to satisfy her girlish crush, a small choice that changed the rest of her life. “Maybe I wanted only to want,” she recalls, “but did not really know what it was, exactly, that I desired.” In a virtuosic move, Bishop allows her narrator to recall the early days of their relationship in a romantic way only briefly before revealing the grotesqueness of the power imbalance between the lovers.

The insights throughout the novel, especially the second half, are astute and affecting (“It was here that I discussed the structures of power which a woman’s art must wrestle with before it is permitted to flourish,” J.B. thinks of the author’s note she added at the end of her novel), but the reader might feel wearied by their volume. The meta-conversation in the book is smart — What does it mean to tell a true story? Who is responsible for what? — but it also swamps the action and leaves the novel a little unbalanced and unsatisfying.

Still, when we return to the action at hand, Bishop’s scenes are engaging and unsettling. As J.B. becomes a suspect in Patrick’s death, she returns to Australia for the first time since she got married. There she reunites with her sister and niece, and their moments of conflict are riveting. They have an uncanny, dreamlike quality, unfolding without J.B. quite being able to participate in them fully. Eventually, J.B. becomes disoriented about which parts of her life are memory and which parts are her own fictional creations; which parts were her choices and which were the outcomes of her passivity?

“The Anniversary” is similar to contemporary books like Meg Wolitzer’s “The Wife” and Liane Moriarty’s “Big Little Lies” in the ways it tackles gender and power, but it offers the pleasures of the Gothic novel too — houses and relationships full of secrets, and a narrator with an uncertain grasp on reality. When J.B. first explains her marriage, it seems that she is telling us a romantic tale, but as the details pile up, the story starts looking like something else entirely. J.B. is a very good narrator, but I suspect she is not recounting her saga for the reader — she’s telling it for herself.

30 July 2023

Another wonderful read, albeit a lengthy novel –  ‘Homecoming’ by Kate Morton, published in 2023, with 631 pages.  A quotation from near the end of the book, which touched a nerve, I think.

 “Most of the time, though, Percy was alone. Being old, he had come to realise, was like being stuck inside an enormous museum with hundreds of rooms, each crammed full of artefacts from the past.  He understood now why the elderly could sit, seemingly still and alone, for hours on end. There was always something else to take out, t look at from a fresh angle and become reacquainted with”

From Kate Morton website, we read:

Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek in the grounds of a grand country house, a local man makes a terrible discovery. Police are called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most baffling murder investigations in the history of South Australia.

Many years later and thousands of miles away, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, she now finds herself unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and is seriously ill in hospital.

At Nora’s house, Jess discovers a true crime book chronicling a long-buried police case: the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959. It is only when Jess skims through its pages that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this notorious event — a mystery that has never been satisfactorily resolved.

Some brief opinions of Kate Morton’s writing”

Kate Morton is the award-winning, worldwide bestselling author of The Shifting Fog (known internationally as The House at Riverton), The Forgotten Garden, The Distant Hours, The Secret Keeper, The Lake House and The Clockmaker’s Daughter. Her books are published in 38 languages across 45 territories and have been #1 bestsellers around the world. She holds degrees in dramatic art and English literature and lives with her family in London and Australia.

2^nd August

‘The Naked Island’ by Russell Braddon [ex-POW], 1^st published in 1952 [this edition 1975 ‘Australian Classics’], 266 pages.     Shattering reading depicting life as a Japanese POW from someone who was there, written a few years after the war’s end. One particular paragraph towards the end of the book [page 207] sums up many of the sadly vivid descriptions  of what went on, and the conditions under which the POW survived or died.

From page 207 [of the edition I read], a paragraph which illustrates much of what is described throughout the book…………….“The I.J.A. [Imperial Japanese Army] were now confronted with the problem of what to do with the wreckages of humanity which were the survivors of their Railway.  These did not look like men; on the other hand, they were not quite animals. They had feet torn by bamboo thorns and working for long months without boots. Their shins had no spare flesh at all on the calf and looked as if bullets had exploded inside them, bursting the meat outwards and blackening it. These were their ulcers of which they had dozens, from threepenny bit size upwards, on each leg. Their thigh bones and pelvis stood out sharply and on the point of each thigh bone was that red raw patch like a saddle sore or a monkey’s behind. All their ribs showed clearly, the chest sloping backwards to the hollows of throat and collar bone.  Arms hung down, stick-like, with huge hands, and the skin wrinkled where muscles had vanished, like old men. Heads were shrunken on to skulls with large teeth and faintly glowing eyes set in black wells: hair was matted and lifeless.  The whole body was draped with a loose-fitting envelope of thin purple-brown parchment which wrinkled horizontally over the stomach and chest and vertically on sagging fleshless buttocks….This was what the Japanese and Koreans did to the men who went on Forces F and H and lived. Of the total number who left Singapore , about half had survived. Now, what to do with this wreckage? And when they looked at it, even the Nips were a little unnerved.”

From Penguin Books……

The innocence of the young Australian soldiers sent to Malaya during the Second World War to halt the territorial expansion of the Japanese was quickly shattered by defeat and surrender. Russell Braddon, who himself became a prisoner of war, graphically describes the ghastly suffering and wanton neglect of the Allied soldiers in some of the most infamous Japanese POW camps, from Pudu in Malaya to Changi in Singapore. For more than three years he watched as these men were ravaged by disease, tortured, and deprived of their most basic needs. Braddon recounts his horrifying story with barely suppressed rage, but also with enormous admiration for the amazing ingenuity, spirit and determination of the prisoners, who created a semblance of order out of nightmarish chaos. His remarkable book makes grim but compelling reading.

From Amazon:

In 1941, after graduating from the University of Sydney, Russell Braddon enlisted in the Australian army. Together with thousands of other young Australian soldiers, he was sent to Malaya, where Allied forces were attempting to halt the territorial expansion of the Japanese. Although much vaunted as an impregnable fortress, Singapore proved instead to be a deadly trap, and Braddon spent almost four years as a prisoner of war after the city fell to the Japanese. This is not only the harrowing record of the years he spent struggling for survival in the notorious Pudu Gaol, in Changi, and in the tragic H Force on the Thai-Burma railway, but also of the equally brutal treatment of the native populations by the Japanese and the hollowness of the Greater Asian Co-prosperity Sphere they promised. Braddon emerged from Changi on swollen legs and ulcerated feet, from calls with desperate illnesses such as beri-beri and other starvation diseases, malaria and dysentery. Intelligent, tough, resourceful and tough in body and spirit, he was determined to surmount his ordeal. He even sharpened his mind by memorising the sole available book Mein Kampf!   The Naked Island vividly portrays battle and prison life as experienced in the ranks. It is a tale of heroism, horror, squalor, starvation and disease endured with fortitude, ironic humour and extraordinary ingenuity.

Down in Drummond Street, North Carlton, [an inner Melbourne suburb] we find the Indigenous Hospitality House [IHH]. Current residents share the house in Carlton North, where they host Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander folks who need to come to Melbourne for hospital business. They also try and help non-Indigenous people consider what it means to live on Stolen Land. Since the project started in 2001 IHH has hosted over 2000 hospital guests.

I was pleased to play a ‘small’ role in the initial establishment in 2001 of the IHH together with other supporters from around Melbourne, including members of the Sunbury Uniting Church, and in particular, friend Ruth who joined me in that final clean-up of the house before it officially opened that year. I still retain photos of us scrubbing down walls, floors, etc, generating the kind of energy [and speaking for myself only] I can’t bring to the surface these days

Still operating, the following correspondence was received in recent days, and I share it for the benefit of those interested!!

‘We at the Indigenous Hospitality House (IHH) were uncertain about the future of our project during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, after a period of discernment and preparation, we have now re-opened the doors and can return to our work of providing stable accommodation to First Nations folks visiting hospitals. Having navigated these trying years, we feel even better equipped to support guests dealing with uncertain futures of their own.

We’d love to share a story with you, that gives a sense of what this support can mean for our guests. We’re sharing it as a reminder of who we are and a celebration of our return; but we’re also hoping you’ll be a part of it.

If you are able, we’d love your contribution to keep this project alive. We’ve weathered so much, and now it’s a matter of keeping the lights on.

Tracey is a single mother from the Snowy River region who was thrown in the deep end when her son Jaicobye required medical care in the city just four days before Christmas last year. For Tracey, the prospect was daunting. Not least of all because she needed to find safe, affordable accommodation for herself and her son – something that had proved difficult on past visits. Thanks to the IHH, this time was different. An Indigenous social worker at the hospital organised for Tracey and Jaicobye to stay with us, and from the moment she arrived, she felt supported and safe.

The IHH has been connected to hospitals and medical services around so-called Australia for 22 years, and is the only service of its kind. The security, comfort and culturally safe space the IHH offers is invaluable. We provide friendly smiles, a hot cup of tea, home cooked meals and a peaceful place to rest during vulnerable moments in our guests’ lives. Tracey and Jaicobye have now stayed with us three times; each has brought an enriching experience that has positively changed their relationship to coming to Narrm/ Melbourne. On her third visit, Tracey was invited to be part of a smoking ceremony led by new volunteer resident Jack – an artist from whadjuk noongar boodja who joined the house in January.

We had other guests staying at the IHH at the time, two aunties from Arnhem Land who loved to endlessly plough through cups of tea and tell long stories.

At the IHH, we provide opportunities for connection, learning, and healing. For Tracey and Jaicobye, they now feel they have “city home and family to go to, and this feels like a new beginning for us too.”

At this time of new beginning for the IHH, Tracey and Jaicobye have generously allowed us to share their story because they want this project to continue.

The challenging realities of re-emergence from the lockdown years have impacted so many, and the IHH is no exception. In order for us to continue hosting folks like Tracey, we need to cover the costs of rent on the guest rooms, food, bills and maintenance. In the past, we’ve also been able to use donations to fund some paid hours of administrative work each work.

The Indigenous Hospitality House only exists today thanks to the amazing generosity and support of our supporters. For that we say thank you.

Over recent weeks, I have enjoyed the following books, etc,  a mix of light and more heavy approaches to literature, which as always, I briefly comment on, and include the occasional  professional review from various sources.  Material read was:

• Bride of an Anzac: My Life Story’ by Queenie Sunderland;
• The Butterfly Collector, by Tea Cooper;
• My Dream Time by Ash Barty;
• Shelter From the Storm by Penelope Janu;
• The Battle of Long Tan by Peter Fitzsimons;
• The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins: Australia’s Greatest Explorer by Peter Fitzsimons; and,
• Quarterly Essay 89: The Wires that Bind: Electrification and Community Renewal by Saul Griffith.

28^th January

 ‘Bride Of An Anzac’: My Life Story by Queenie Sunderland [published in 1996 [272 pages]

I picked this book up in the Studio apartment at Beechworth last week, and decided to start reading it  –  as a family historian myself, I found the context quite interesting, though was probably happy to get to the end eventually.  Having two WW I soldiers in my own family who would marry English girls they met while serving in Europe, there was a touch of familiarity.

From the book cover and various reviews we read  –  ‘This is the extraordinary story of Queenie Sunderland spanning her life from 1897 to 2000. This account, written in her 100th year, glows with wit, humour and insight that only ten decades of living and a love of learning can deliver. Her amazing memory brings to life in detail the struggles, the hardships, the journeys and the joys of a century of progress through several generations of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her courage, intelligence and humour shine through on every page and her memories touch all of us with a nostalgic empathy for those small and momentous events that happen in families’.

2^nd February 2023

‘The Butterfly Collector’ by Tea Cooper [Australian author], published n  2022, 363 pages] – the first of this author’s books, read over 2 days [as a change from the mammoth Family History of the World I’m trying to get through!  Very enjoyable light read, which has inspired me to seek out some of her earlier novels  – another great Australian writer of historical fiction, in which at the end of the book, she clearly defines the differences between action history, and the fiction she has incorporated into the story.  I found it both entertaining and educational. While perhaps bordering on the fringes of a Mills & Boon style romance novel [the early influence on the author to write], I enjoyed this novel – both for the ease of reading and for the historical flavour attached to it  Well worth it if looking for a bit of light reading during a quiet period in one’ daily routine!

From the various publicity blurbs:

What connects a botanical illustration of a butterfly with a missing baby and an enigma fifty years in the making? A twisty historical mystery from a bestselling Australian author.
1868 Morpeth Theodora Breckenridge, still in mourning after the loss of her parents and brother at sea, is more interested in working quietly on her art at the family’s country estate than she is finding a husband in Sydney society, even if her elder sister Florence has other ideas. Theodora seeks to emulate prestigious nature illustrators, the Scott sisters, who lived nearby, so she cannot believe her luck when she discovers a butterfly never before sighted in Australia. With the help of Clarrie, her maid, and her beautiful illustrations, she is poised to make a natural science discovery that will put her name on the map. Then Clarrie’s new-born son goes missing and everything changes.
1922 Sydney When would-be correspondent Verity Binks is sent an anonymous parcel containing a spectacular butterfly costume and an invitation to the Sydney Artists Masquerade Ball and on the same day she loses her job at The Arrow, she is both baffled and determined to go. Her late grandfather Sid, an esteemed newspaperman, would expect no less of her. At the ball, she lands a juicy commission to write the history of the Treadwell Foundation – an institution that supports disgraced young women and their babies. But as she begins to dig, her investigation quickly leads her to an increasingly dark and complex mystery, a mystery fifty years in the making. Can she solve it? And will anyone believe her if she does?

And from ‘Goodreads’, another brief synopsis of the book;

1868 and Clarrie and Sid were sweethearts when Clarrie realised she was pregnant. Sid would stand beside her, working everything out so Clarrie wasn’t left destitute. Maud was a midwife and would assist with Clarrie’s birth, then the lay-in period, and when Clarrie found work at the Breckenridge home as an all purpose maid, helping out Theodora as well as working in the house, they were happy. Sid worked at the local newspaper office – “The Morpeth Want” – and visited his newborn son as often as he could. But the day he was snatched, everything changed…
Verity Binks missed her grandpa Sid immensely, though she was grateful for the home he’d left her in Sydney. It was 1922 and Verity worked at a newspaper in the city, cycling everywhere. It was when Verity was commissioned to write a piece about the Treadwell Foundation that history reared its head and Verity’s interest was aroused, especially after she spotted a painting she recognised. She was determined to discover the secrets of the past, secrets which had affected her family as well as others. Returning to Morpeth, meeting a newspaper man there, they joined forces. But would they discover the truth? Plus Verity knew she needed proof…

Tea Cooper writes Australian contemporary and historical fiction. In a past life she was a teacher, a journalist and a farmer. These days she haunts museums and indulges her passion for storytelling.

12 February

My Dream Time’ by Ash Barty, published in 2022, 353 pages  –  an interesting enough read.  She writes simply and with blunt honesty. Enjoyed her recollections of specific matches, sets, points, though probably aided by research and general records. My only ‘dis-quietness’ about the book  – though it does run in some degree of chronological order, she jumps around in time a fair bit throughout her biography, which tended to annoy me a little. But then again, for many people and readers, that probably allowed for more enjoyment rather than a straight series of chapters from birth to marriage .

In the words of Ash herself…….: It’s a tennis story. It’s a family story. It’s a teamwork story. It’s the story of how I got to where and who I am today.

I’m only in my mid-twenties, and some might think that’s young to write a memoir. Who does that, right? But for me and my team it’s always been important to reflect on every part of the journey, especially the end. In that context, the timing is perfect to share my story, from the first time I picked up a racquet as a 5-year-old girl in Ipswich to the night I packed up my tennis bag at Melbourne Park after winning the 2022 Australian Open. This book gives me a chance to look back at every moment of the 20 years in between, and to think carefully through the highs and lows, the work and the play, the smiles and the tears.

Telling my story also gives me an opportunity to do more than simply thank those who mean the most to me – it provides a way to honour them as an integral part of that tale, as the very secret behind my success. Some of them you might know – such as my longtime coach, Craig Tyzzer – and some of them you might not – like my first childhood coach, Jim Joyce. There are mates like Casey Dellacqua and Alicia Molik. Mentors such as tennis icon Evonne Goolagong Cawley and mindset coach Ben Crowe. My parents and sisters and my husband have sacrificed as much as I have over the years – this book is also for them.

My Dream Time is about finding the path to being the best I could be, not just as an athlete but as a person, and to consider the way those identities overlap and compete. We all have a professional and a personal self. How do you conquer nerves and anxiety? How do you deal with defeat, or pain? What drives you to succeed – and what happens when you do? The answers tell me so much, about bitter disappointments and also dreams realised – from injuries and obscurity and self-doubt to winning Wimbledon and ranking number 1 in the world.

My story is about the power and joy of doing that thing you love and seeing where it can take you, about the importance of purpose – and perspective – in our lives.

25^th February

‘Shelter From The Storm’ by Penelope Janu [published in 2023, 435 pages], the 7^th novel by this Australia but only the first I have come across.

Purchased seeking some pleasant relief from a couple of more serious books I’m currently wading through. Another Australian novel, set in Australia, a mix of rural, environmental, and Navy related issues, which I found quite interesting, and a relaxing read.

Book blog:  When Patience Cartwright is stranded in her home town, the last thing she expects is a second chance at love…  Fiercely independent naval officer, Patience Cartwright has never had a place to call home, but she knows where she doesn’t belong. After an unhappy childhood and a badly broken heart, she’ll never return to the country.  But to save her career, Patience is forced to accept a secondment – to an environmental team working near the town where she grew up. There she encounters once more the infuriatingly attractive biologist Hugo Halstead – the very man she’s sworn never to forgive.  Given their history, Hugo, as self-assured and honest as Patience is secretive and self-contained, has vowed never to trust her again, but that doesn’t stop him feeling just as helplessly drawn to her complicated mix of courage and fragility as he ever was.  As Patience recuperates from a life-threatening illness in the small country town of Horseshoe Hill, she realises the beauty of the landscape and close-knit community promise something very different to the future she’s mapped out.  But could the secrets she keeps and the shadows of her past, send her adrift all over again?

As the concluding paragraph in a Review by one Amanda Barrett explains  –

‘A fine cast of supporting characters, such as colleagues and family members add to the drama in Shelter from the Storm. The audience will warm to figures such as Hugo’s mum and Patience’s siblings, who are all genuinely great protagonists to meet. Community ties are potent in this novel, drawing the reader in to the very fabric of the local region. With themes of naval pursuits, careers, past secrets,  homecoming, illness, personal health, belonging and support, Shelter from the Storm is a book that will secure your heart and mind for the duration that you spend with this delightful read’.

5^th March 2023

‘The Battle of Long Tan’ by Peter Fitzsimons, published in 2022, 460 pages –  another brilliant piece of writing by Fitzsimons, but a story that left one horrified [again] at the brutality of war, and the senselessness of it all. Of particular personal interest – had my birthday date being drawn out in hose conscription ballots of the early 1960s [essentially for service – or cannon fodder – in Vietnam], well I most likely would not be here to rite this, because somehow I doubt, that knowing my personality and humane view of the world’s people, I could not have survived  – even if I’d got as far as Vietnam – not sure if I could have survived the Army discipline imposed on new recruits from the very start!  And if I had returned –   I somehow feel the psychological affect would have been quite severe!

What was the Battle of Long Tan  about?   –   From ABC Conversations of 8/1/2022 –    “Peter FitzSimons has written many books on Australian military history, but pulling out the remarkable stories from the Battle of Long Tan was a long process, despite the fact that many of the participants in this great defining moment are still alive.  In August 1966, a company of Australian soldiers found themselves alone and separated in a Vietnamese rubber plantation, trying to survive wave after wave of enemy onslaught. While the Battle of Long Tan became Australia’s deadliest encounter in the Vietnam War, many of the men from Delta Company survived against all odds, with the help from insubordinate helicopter pilots, and dogged comrades on the ground.”

Certainly, a powerful read, quite disturbing, the author hides nothing back, and little is left to the imagination. It was noted that most of those servicemen involved in the battle  – well,  they didn’t think they would survive, they wanted to, but felt death was inevitable. –  and for so many, it is death that came, or terrible wounds and pain.  And what was it all for, what did it achieve?

As noted on page 402 – “As North Vietnam kept flooding ever more of their cadres to the South, America and her allies lost the stomach for the fight. Nui Dat was handed over to the South Vietnamese Army by November 1971 and the last Australian infantry battalion left Vietnam the following month.  At the time of departure, Australian forces had suffered a total of 423 fatalities during their time in Vietnam, with 2398 wounded. Not surprisingly, the ARVN proved incapable of  filling the vacuum  left by the Australians and the VC soon ruled unchallenged once more”.

And on page 403: “Even by that time the very premises on which the Vietnam War had been based had been completely discredited, generating great bitterness, which exists to this day, over he USA – and Australia – being there in the first place”.

As always, I like the way in which Fitzsimons rounds up his story –  with his findings and examination of where all the main characters in the story ended up.  And he doesn’t hold back on the so-called military leaders, who after the war, received most of the medals and honours, in relation to the Long Tan exercise, even though in some cases, sitting back well away from the action, they procrastinated and delayed in the decisions about support  for the troops in the heat of the battle.  In one particular case, it was argued that the citations given “could be considered as Tantamount to perjury. After all…the idea that  [one Brigadier] personally directed the battle is demonstrable nonsense, when during the course of the entire action……he was decorated for personal leadership but he should have faced a military inquiry into why he didn’t assess the intelligence he was getting’ [pages 423-424].

From page 424: “The ugly truth about Long Tan, and in fact the entire Vietnam War over  decade, is that senior officers took most of the awards at the expense of soldiers who fought in action. There were 726 awards given out in those ten years, and of those Private soldiers received only 61 awards, of which just 22 were medals.  Many more went to major-generals, brigadiers, colonels and lieutenants far from the action. [Just 3% medals for Privates].

Fitzsimons went on to say [on page 426]  that the “Americans  were faster to honour the men of Delta Company [the Australian force] than the Australian Governments, by about four decades. General Westmoreland was so enamoured  by the effort of the ‘Ossies’ that he arranged a Presidential Citation for Delta Company, a rare and deserved honour, bestowed on 18 August, 1968”.

One interesting story –  at the August 2016 memorial service and display of a new National Memorial  Honour Roll of Vietnam veterans lost in the war, one soldier who came to pay respects to a mate who was killed during the campaign, became incensed that his mate’s name was not on the Honour Roll.  When he voiced his complaint, he was told that his friend’s name was not on the Roll, because he as still very much alive   He had been repatriated from Vietnam with brain damage, and was living peacefully in a psychiatric hospital in Sydney. I suppose in a way, you could call that a good story, he was regularly visited by his wife and daughter since the War, having only being  married 2 weeks before he went to Vietnam, and yes returned, but a different person!! 

The following is just one of many reviews about the book – from Farrell’s Bookshop  – obviously a promotional exercise –  but a useful summary of the contents

From the bestselling author of Kokoda and Gallipoli comes the epic story of Australia’s deadliest Vietnam War battle.

• 4.31 pm: Enemy [on] left flank. Could be serious.
• 5.01 pm: Enemy … penetrating both flanks and to north and south.
• 5.02: Running short of ammo. Require drop through trees.

It was the afternoon of 18 August 1966, hot, humid with grey monsoonal skies. D Company, 6RAR were four kilometres east of their Nui Dat base, on patrol in a rubber plantation not far from the abandoned village of Long Tan. A day after their base had suffered a mortar strike, they were looking for Viet Cong soldiers.

Then – just when they were least expecting – they found them. Under withering fire, some Diggers perished, some were grievously wounded, the rest fought on, as they remained under sustained attack.

For hours these men fought for their lives against the enemy onslaught. The skies opened and the rain fell as ferocious mortar and automatic fire pinned them down. Snipers shot at close quarters from the trees that surrounded them. The Aussie, Kiwi and Yankee artillery batteries knew it was up to them but, outnumbered and running out of ammunition they fired, loaded, fired as Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces just kept coming. And coming.

Their only hope was if Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) could reach them before they were wiped out. The APCs did their best but low cloud and thunderstorms meant air support was stalled. A daring helicopter resupply mission was suggested but who would want to fly that? The odds against this small force were monumental…

By far the deadliest battle for Australian forces in Vietnam, the Battle of Long Tan has a proud place in the annals of Australian military history – and every ANZAC who fought there could hold his head high.

Peter FitzSimons, Australia’s greatest storyteller, tells the real story of this classic battle. He reveals the horror, the bravery, the wins and the losses that faced our soldiers. He brings to life the personal stories of the men who fought, the events leading up to that memorable battle and the long war that followed, and the political decisions made in the halls of power that sealed their fates. The Battle of Long Tan is an engrossing and powerful history that shows the costs of war never end.

In conclusion  –  By far the deadliest battle for Australian forces in Vietnam, the Battle of Long Tan has a proud place in the annals of Australian military history – and every ANZAC who fought there could hold his head high. Peter FitzSimons, Australia’s greatest storyteller, tells the real story of this classic battle. He reveals the horror, the bravery, the wins and the losses that faced our soldiers. He brings to life the personal stories of the men who fought, the events leading up to that memorable battle and the long war that followed, and the political decisions made in the halls of power that sealed their fates. The Battle of Long Tan is an engrossing and powerful history that shows the costs of war never end.

31^st March 2023

‘The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins [Australia’s Greatest Explorer], by Peter Fitzsimons,  published in 2021, 549 pages. This was a Christmas present at the end of 2021, and on my brother, Robert Kirk’s recommendation early in 2022, I began to read it then, but subsequently put it aside for other books.  After reading ‘The Battle of Long Tan’, I decided to get back to Hubert Wilkins, of whom I knew very little about – as it seems do most Australians. – a man who generally apparently didn’t rate with the more well-known early Australian explorers.

A fabulous read of an amazing man, explorer, scientist [in mind] and adventurer, with a seemingly charmed life., His explorations of the Polar regions  for had to comprehend –  the isolation, and extreme weather conditions that had to be faced, made at times quite chilling reading [no pun intended].  Afterwards, I found it strange that our school history books about explorers, as far as I can recall, made little if any reference to this man –  certainly deserving of much mire attention than history has given him.

From Hachette Australia, the book is described as follows.

The extraordinary, must-read story of the brave, bold Hubert Wilkins – Australia’s most adventurous explorer, naturalist, photographer, war hero, aviator, spy and daredevil – brought to life by Australia’s greatest storyteller.

Sir Hubert Wilkins is one of the most remarkable Australians who ever lived.

The son of pioneer pastoralists in South Australia, Hubert studied engineering before moving on to photography, then sailing for England and a job producing films with the Gaumont Film Co. Brave and bold, he became a polar expeditioner, a brilliant war photographer, a spy in the Soviet Union, a pioneering aviator-navigator, a death-defying submariner – all while being an explorer and chronicler of the planet and its life forms that would do Vasco da Gama and Sir David Attenborough proud. As a WW1 photographer he was twice awarded the Military Cross for bravery under fire, the only Australian photographer in any war to be decorated. He went on expedition with Sir Ernest Shackleton, led a groundbreaking natural history study in Australia and was knighted in 1928 for his aviation exploits, but many more astounding achievements would follow. Wilkins’ quest for knowledge and polar explorations were lifelong passions and his missions to polar regions aboard the submarine Nautilus the stuff of legend.

With masterful storytelling skill, Peter FitzSimons illuminates the life of Hubert Wilkins and his incredible achievements. Thrills and spills, derring-do, new worlds discovered – this is the most unforgettable tale of the most extraordinary life lived by any Australian.

‘Peter FitzSimons has done his level best to return George Hubert Wilkins to the pantheon of the greatest Australians. He has told a story for the nation.’ – Michael McKernan, The Canberra Times

One reviewer [Gary Daly] wrote:   ‘History as collated by a committee of specialists and written in the style of a ‘boy’s own adventure’. It’s a rich adventure narrative and how much is this a biographical history? The telling of history and in this case the historical biography of the most incredible and unknown Australian adventurer, Hubert Wilkins. Photographer, soldier photographer WW1, polar explorer, pilot, daredevil and the luckiest man alive. Survives every bomb, every bullet, every plane crash and even in his 50s a survivor of a French Military plane shot down over occupied France in 1940. Stranded and without speaking an inch of French makes an incredible solo journey through German occupied France to safety. Not many recorded details of his work in WW2 in comparison to the massive detail that follows Hubert Wilkins from his naive journey from South Australia to Sydney and ends up a Captain in the Australian Army as Charles Bean’s official war photographer. Unbelievable and seat of your pants adventure double plus journey. Great read but I decided early on to take the well-formed narrative and enjoy it as a factualised/fictionalised reading experience. I’m positive Hubert Wilkins achieved what has been says of him, I just needed to suspend my biographical mindset in order to fully enjoy the boy’s own adventure story written’.

Certainly, one of our own, worth reading and learning about, a man seemingly without fear, sometimes even to the potential detriment of those ‘travelling’ such as the aborted attempt to take a basically unseaworthy submarine underneath the North Pole – a visionary of the future indeed.

2^nd April, 2023

Quarterly Essay No. 89 – ‘The Wires That Bind: Electrification and Community Renewal’ by Saul Griffith  and the responses to ‘Lone Wolf’ by Katherine Murphy [QE 88].

I found this a very interesting read, if not a little disturbing, with various statistical tables and graphs throughout the Essay……………….. The country is at a crossroads. In The Wires That Bind, inventor, engineer and visionary Saul Griffith reveals the world that awaits us if we make the most of Australia’s energy future.

Griffith paints an inspiring yet practical picture of empowered local communities acting collectively when it comes to renewable energy, and benefiting financially. He considers both equity and security – an end to dependence on foreign oil, for instance. He explores the rejuvenation of regional Australia, as well as the rise of a new populist movement driven by Australian women. And he explodes once and for all the trees v. jobs binary.  This is an electrifying essay about building a better world, one community at a time.

“We need a realistic and achievable vision for the future because the future is coming fast. We have only about one-quarter of one century, twenty-five years, one human generation, to get ourselves out of this climate quandary. If we get this right, if we design the incentives and the policies and the regulations correctly, communities will thrive. Every Australian will benefit economically, socially and even health-wise. So let’s hit the road.” Saul Griffith, The Wires That Bind

Occasionally, I find these QE’s sometimes technically difficult to follow completely, this was a pleasant exception – most interesting aspect, the objective [his] of ridding us of gas use completely, and making electricity the principal use of power sources.

There were also some generally supportive response to the previous Quarterly Essay – ‘Lone Wolf’, the essay about Anthony Albanese by Katherine Murphy.[referred to in Coachbuilder Column Volume 13, Issue 1]  The principal response – from the other side of politics, by former Liberal MP and Minister, Christopher Pyne.

On January 25, the Australian of the Year Awards 2023 honoured people young and old who embodied what it means to be Australian.  Since its inception in 1960, the Australian of the Year Awards has provided a forum for the recognition of outstanding achievement across the nation.

Over the years the criteria for the awards has shifted significantly. Initially the focus was on international acclaim and awarding the person who had ‘brought the greatest honour to Australia’. Now, the criteria focuses on excellence in a field and being an inspirational role model for the Australian community.  The 2022 winner was athlete and disability advocate Dylan Alcott.

As well as the Australian of the Year, the Senior Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year and Australia’s Local Hero were announced at the awards ceremony in Canberra.

There were 32 finalists across the four categories who were nominated by members of their community and recognised for their contributions.

The respective winners in each category were

Australian of the Year: 

Taryn Brumfitt, a body image activist who directed a documentary about women’s body loathing and her path to accepting her own skin, has been named the 2023 Australian of the Year.  The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, made the announcement at a ceremony at the National Arboretum Canberra on Wednesday night.  Brumfitt, 45, heads the Body Image Movement in Adelaide, an organisation focused on body positivity and acceptance, and directed the 2016 documentary Embrace, which has been seen by millions on Netflix.  Brumfitt has also written four best-selling books, and her most recent documentary, Embrace Kids, was released in September and aims to teach children to nourish and appreciate what their bodies can do.

“Taryn has inspired millions of women around the world to be more comfortable in their own skin,” the chair of the National Australia Day  Council, Danielle Roche, said.

Brumfitt takes over as Australian of the Year from the tennis champion, Paralympian and disability advocate Dylan Alcott. Alcott was named Australian of the Year just before the Australian Open final where he retired from his sporting career.

Young Australian of the Year

The Australian Socceroo, Awer Mabil, was named the 2023 Young Australian of the Year.

The Adelaide-based 27-year-old grew up in a Kenyan refugee camp after his family fled civil war in Sudan and came to Australia when he was 10.  A year after Mabil first played for the Socceroos, his sister died in a car accident in 2019.  Mabil co-founded the Barefoot to Boots not-for-profit organisation aiming to improve health, education and gender equality for refugees.

The sports star was unable to attend the awards due to football commitments in Europe. His mother and uncle accepted his award on his behalf.

Senior Australian of the Year:

The 2023 Senior Australian of the Year is the Kungarakan elder and human rights campaigner Prof Tom Calma. Calma, 69, is currently the co-chair of Reconciliation Australia and chancellor of the University of Canberra.  Calma was the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission between 2004 and 2010. His 2005 report calling for governments to commit to achieving equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in health and life expectancy formed the foundation of the Close the Gap campaign.

Calma also co-led the co-design of the voice to parliament initiative.

Local Hero of the Year:

The 2023 Australia’s local hero was named as Amar Singh, the founder of Turbans 4 Australia, a group that every week packages and distributes up to 450 food and grocery packages to people experiencing food insecurity in western Sydney.  The group also provided hay to farmers during drought, as well as supplies to Lismore flood victims and bushfire victims on the south coast of New South Wales.

Other Australian of the Year Nominees were:

• Former Socceroo and human rights activist Craig Forster is the NSW nominee. He earned international acclaim during his tenure as Socceroo’s captain and since retiring as a player has become a prominent analyst and commentator .Foster’s human rights activism has taken centre stage in recent years. He was involved in advocating for the release of refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi in 2019.
• Queensland finalist William Barton is a proud Kalkadunga man, and a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, didgeridoo player and renowned classical composer.   He was invited to perform with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra at 17, has received numerous prestigious music awards including Best World Music Album at the 2022 ARIAs, and was the 2019 artist in residence at Melbourne Recital Centre.
• Proud Mayili man Samuel Bush-Blanasi is the Northern Territory’s finalist. Bush-Blanasi has worked for decades to empower Indigenous Australians through native title claims and constitutional reform. He is Chair and Deputy Chair of the Northern Land Council.
• From Victoria, paediatrician and co-found of Health Awareness Society of Australia Dr. Angrai Khillan   is the nominee. He works with the Health Awareness Society of Australia to dispel taboos, myths and misinformation about health and deliver reliable information around topics like vaccines in numerous languages.
• Western Australian advocate for end of life care Professor Samar  Auon  is also in the running. She advocates for person-centred approaches to end of life care and is an international leader in in the advocacy of public health approaches to palliative care.
• From the ACT, Olympia Yarger is an insect farming pioneer  and climate action activist. Yarger has developed an innovative waste management system that uses maggots to process food waste and reduce greenhouse gases.
• Tasmanian John Kamara is the co-founder of Culturally Diverse Alliance of. Originally from Sierra Leone, Kamara now works with migrants, refugees and people from culturally diverse communities.

Other Young Australian of the Year nominees  were:

• From Tasmania, Humanitarian and marathon runner Meriem Daoui
• From the Northern Territory, First Nations community leader Jahdai Vigona
• From Victoria,  Advocate for Indigenous health care in prisons Darcy McGauley-Bartlett
• From Western Australia, athlete and olympian Nagmeldin (Peter) Bol
• From NSW, sustainability champion Lottie Dalziel
• From the ACT, performer and songwriter Kofi Owusu-Ansah
• From Queensland, community organiser Talei Elu

Other Senior Australian of the Year nominees  were:

• From South Australia, Indigenous health advocate Sandra Miller
• From the Northern Territory, suicide prevention campaigner Bernard Tipiloura
• From Victoria, pediatrician and founding director of the Centre for Community Child Health Professor Frank Oberklaid
• From Western Australia, community advocate Theresa Kwok
• OFrom NSW, palliative care pioneer and advocate Teresa Plane
• From Queensland, child protection campaigner Claude Lyle Harvey OAM
• From Tasmania, prisoner advocate and frontline COVID-19 worker Dr Frances Donaldson

Other nominees for the Local Hero award were:

• From South Australia, co-founder of Lost Pets of South Australia Christine Robertson
• From the Northern Territory, social worker Sacha King
• From Victoria, founder of Mums of the Hills Belinda Young
• From Western Australia, co-founder of Town Team Movement James Murphy
• From the ACT, scientist and co-founder of SiTara’s Story Dr Shamaruh Mirza
• From Queensland, founder of A Brave Life Melissa Redsell
• From Tasmania, volunteer ambulance officer Keith Parker

Over the past couple of decades or so, much has been written, said and printed about climate change, so much so, that were the problem not so serious, one almost wants to turn off the subject and let others think about it. Perhaps that’s the problem?

Anyway, an excellent article on the subject appeared in the December, 2022 edition of ‘Crosslight’, a bi-monthly magazine produced through \the Uniting Church in Australia Synod of Victoria and Tasmania. The writer was Andrew Humphries, and, while essentially by the nature of the publication, it is written from the Church’s perspective, the many examples therein could and no doubt do, apply to a  range of organisations, etc, be they of a religious or secular nature, that in Australia today,  are a least ‘attempting’ to do their bit to address the issue of climate change.  Apart from that aspect, the article addresses the issue in easily understood [to my mind] layman’s terms in the absence of the cyclopaedic flood of science used in most arguments.

Anyway, I felt it worth sharing on this page.

The Heat is On  by Andrew Humphries [‘Crosslight’, December, 2022, pages 18-29]

Fifteen years ago, Kevin Rudd was Leader of the Opposition when he addressed the National Climate Summit at Parliament House and described climate change as the “great moral challenge facing our generation”. There was no time to waste, he said, as the world faced its greatest crisis. “My intention is to harness the best brains and talent available in the country to get our response and the nation’s response to climate change as right as possible,” he said. “To do that, we have to begin by fashioning, shaping and encouraging a national political and policy consensus on climate change. “Our job is to listen, but subsequent to that, our job is then to act.”

Just over six months later, in November 2007, Rudd became our 26th Prime Minister and, for so many Australians concerned about what was happening to our planet, his climate summit address offered hope for meaningful work to address the impacts of climate change. Yet in the 15 years since, Rudd, Julia Gillard, Rudd again, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison made little headway in addressing that “great moral challenge” facing Australia and, indeed, the world.  The task now rests with Anthony Albanese, as all of the science tells us that we are edging ever closer to midnight in the race to save humanity.

In Melbourne, Uniting Church Senior Social Justice Advocate Mark Zirnsak has watched on as little progress has been made in the 15 years since Rudd’s Parliament House address.

“I would argue that he was correct and that climate change is a great moral challenge globally,” Mark says. “I don’t want to suggest that it’s an end-of-the-world scenario, but obviously its harmful impacts are being felt by hundreds of millions of people around the world, and that would continue to increase due to a lack of action. “We have seen some progress at a global level and some countries have committed to taking action, but the action taken hasn’t lived up to the promises made.

“It’s one of these difficult areas that requires global effort across the board and there can be a selfish advantage a country can get if it doesn’t do its share and everyone else kicks in to make up for what it’s not doing. “So you’ve got this temptation to say ‘we’ll let others fix it and we’ll ride on their efforts’.” It’s also an attitude sometimes expressed by countries such as Australia suggesting they contribute little overall in the way of greenhouse emissions and, on that basis, should be cut some slack. That, says Mark, is a dangerous attitude and it’s countries such as ours that should be leading the way in reducing emissions. “If you actually look at our emissions, we are, from memory, in the top 20 among the biggest emitters,” he says. “If you ran that argument about emissions per country with Australia as your example, you would end up saying ‘oh, there are 170 countries that can afford to do nothing because they emit less than us and therefore all of the heavy lifting has to be done by a handful of large countries who emit more than us. “But if those large countries reduced their emissions to zero, you still wouldn’t get to the emission reduction that we need because those other 170 countries, including Australia, aren’t doing their bit. “It seems a convenient argument to make, but it’s one that sets us on a path towards enormous damage and harm globally.  “A valid counter argument is to say that it’s fairer to compare on the basis of per capita emissions per country and, on that basis, we are right near the top.”

At a national level, the Uniting Church Assembly has called on members to address what it describes as a “climate crisis”. “The Uniting Church calls for urgent action towards a more sustainable planet and support for those most impacted,” it said ahead of the release last year of a National Climate Action Plan which aims to encourage action across the Church. “We seek the flourishing of the whole of God’s Creation and all its creatures. “We act to renew the Earth from the damage done and stand in solidarity with people most impacted by human-induced climate change. “Government, churches, businesses and the wider community work together for a sustainable future.”

The document commits the Uniting Church to reducing emissions by five per cent each year, with an end goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2040. It recognises the danger caused by rising greenhouse gases, which have resulted in rising sea levels, extreme heat and storms, longer droughts and bushfire seasons, and the loss of coral reefs, but also acknowledges the fact that the impacts of climate change are not always distributed equally. “We recognise that the impacts of climate change fall disproportionately on those who have contributed least to human-induced greenhouse emissions, including our neighbours in the Pacific and elsewhere,” our Church says. “For many years, the Uniting Church has spoken out about the need for greater action on climate change and to care for God’s creation. Our statements in 1977, 1991, 2006 and 2018 have outlined the genuine desire of the Uniting Church in Australia to see more done to protect our environment. “We also acknowledge that our words are not enough. “It is time to move from resolutions to urgent, church-wide action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our own activities and build credibility in our continuing advocacy work. “This National Climate Action Plan is intended to drive that action.”

With the Assembly’s net zero target by 2040 in mind, Mark says the Victorian and Tasmanian Synod has begun the process of examining how it might reach that target and what it would mean for the Synod. “A discussion paper, involving the Synod’s Climate Action Taskforce, will go out to members and it seeks to fully explore what it will mean to get to net zero, what kind of efforts we would need to make in doing that, and what the cost would be,” Mark says. “So there isn’t a pre-determined outcome on that and our challenge has been that while there are parts of our Synod that are very dedicated to seeing a reduction in emissions, it would be fair to say that other parts of our organisations believe there are other priorities at this stage and that reaching net zero emissions at a Synod level is going to present quite a challenge.

“A part of the discussion will really be about how we collectively decide how to move forward on this. “At the very least, the Synod should be committing to doing all that we reasonably can to reduce our emissions, but whether we can agree to join the Assembly in the net zero position is something that needs a lot of discussion.” Mark hopes to have the discussion paper released within the next month or two, before a way forward is identified that can be taken to a Synod Meeting. Pressed for a personal opinion on the net zero by 2040 goal, Mark says it requires a delicate balancing act. “Climate action is a really important issue, but at the same time I think the Church is going to see that it has other priorities,” he says. “In terms of my own view, it’s that the Synod membership really needs to own any decision. “I absolutely think we should be doing all that we can, but whether the Synod feels it can put aside sufficient funds to reach net zero is a decision that the membership needs to make, and it will come at the cost of other priorities, and that is the reality. “It’s a complex situation, so yes I’m saying we need to be doing all that we can on climate change while recognising there will be limits to how far the Church can afford to go on it.”

But the tide is turning, as more and more congregations realise the power they have in being able to make meaningful change. At Manningham UC in Templestowe, members are understandably proud of what they have been able to do in promoting sustainability as part of the plan to address climate change. When plans were drawn up to design and build its new complex, the merger of four congregations meant there was sufficient funds to create something special in terms of a building that ticked all of the sustainability boxes. Social Justice Action Group member Don Bartlett uses the words from Luke 12:48 to explain Manningham’s commitment to sustainability. “Luke said ‘to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded’,”  Don says. “We have a responsibility at Manningham Uniting Church to continue our sustainability journey. Our vision is simple: we want to send our community the message that we are committed to a sustainable future for God’s planet.”

The new building includes double-glazed windows, 34 410-watt solar panels which generate 14kw of power, energy-efficient LED lights, and rainwater tanks able to store 45,000 litres of water to be used for flushing toilets and landscape irrigation. “This will be exceptionally helpful, with more than an estimated 30 per cent of the site covered with vegetation,” Don says. “Water-efficient fixtures and fittings ensure that our water is used wisely.” Provision has also been made for the installation of more solar panels when required, electric vehicle charging points in the building’s basement, and changes in the kitchen that encourage sustainability. “At an appropriate time, gas cooktops in the kitchen can be replaced with electric induction cooktops,” Don says. “This brings not only a huge reduction in the amount of energy required for cooking and heating, it eliminates unhealthy gases which cause respiratory problems, especially for children. “Ultimately, we can disconnect our building from the gas network.”

Mark says the Manningham congregation should be congratulated on taking significant steps in sustainability when it came to designing the new building. “The advantage for them of course was that it was a new church building, but it’s good to see the choices they have made, and they have made significant efforts in what they have done,” he says. “Theirs is an obvious example of places where the Church can act, so they are to be commended for what they have done.” Apart from the building itself, Don says other initiatives are being put in place to ensure Manningham continues to embrace a future based around sustainability. “Sustainability goes far beyond building design,” he says. “Largely thanks to congregation member Alison Smith, we are gearing up to become a significant community recycling hub, while Hugh Spratling’s indoor plants enhance our office space air quality and ambience.

“Our community garden provides an opportunity for locals to grow and share produce and our composting bins recycle organic matter, including that from the Redgum Cafe. “Manningham Uniting Church has long advocated for God’s earth, and we have lots of in-house expertise on how to make our lives and our houses more sustainable. “The sustainability of the environment is everyone’s responsibility.” Don’s message is a simple one: every little bit counts in the battle against climate change. He admits, somewhat ruefully though, that he comes to the issue after a working background that began in 1959 in the coal mining industry as a chemist and chemical engineer. “My first job then was at the old coalfired Newport power station,” he recalls. “I can also remember the building of the Hazelwood power station, which we thought at the time was fantastic because it was done so economically. “Decades later I admit I’m probably living with a little bit of guilt around that early work.” By 1976, though, Don had become aware of the dangers that carbon dioxide had begun to pose to the environment. “I knew about global warming and increases in carbon dioxide even then and I can recall giving a talk in 1976 while I was working for Melbourne Water about the dangers of overpopulation and build-up of carbon dioxide,” he says. “It’s such a huge challenge now because despite everything we have done so far, carbon dioxide levels continue to increase.” Don now devotes his energy towards addressing climate change, something he says is a fundamental part of being a Christian. “We have to be optimistic and, as Christians, we should be at the forefront of the fight,” he says. “Saving God’s planet needs to be our priority and we need to set the example.”

Also setting an example is Brunswick UC, in Melbourne’s inner north, whose congregation members have sent a clear message that there is no time to waste in addressing climate change. In November 2019, the congregation declared a “climate crisis” and, in 2020, adopted a Climate Crisis Action Plan. Congregation member James Clough says the decision grew out of the formation of a climate action group, which then determined a path forward. “The first thing was for the congregation to declare a climate emergency and then establish a   theological basis for setting priorities around that,” he says. While congregation members had declared a climate crisis by 2019, James admits his own concerns had become apparent about two decades earlier. “I would be perfectly happy to say that that was my position by 1999 and since then the pace of change has increased dramatically,” he says. “This was something that was clear to me at primary school in the 1980s and I can recall reading reports about the gravity of the situation even then. “In the last five years, we have been living with the consequences of climate change. “Just a few weeks after we made that climate crisis declaration in 2019, we saw the consequences of climate change in the bushfire crisis. “I remember thinking at that time that I hope we don’t come to see something like these fires as a good day, the fear being that such events might become commonplace.

Even before their climate crisis declaration, Brunswick members had been looking at sustainability issues, with a move towards solar panels in 2015 a natural progression. “A number of congregation members had solar panels on their own homes and we thought as a congregation it was time to look at that as a means of reducing our carbon footprint,” James says. “The obvious first question was what would be the cost involved in installing solar panels and, after crunching the numbers, we found it would be a modest capital investment that would pay off pretty smartly.” That initial cost was just under $13,000 when the panels were installed in 2015, with the investment on track to be paid off after just eight years. It is actions such as this, as well as an increasing worldwide awareness around climate change, that has James believing averting a climate crisis may be possible. “The crisis in Europe has produced a response from people, with so many now saying, ‘we have to fix this energy transition’,” he says. “The electricity future is going to be so much cheaper and cleaner and if we can make it accessible to everyone I think the pace of change towards a future free of fossil fuels is going to increase dramatically. “The last year has seen a huge change in direction and I think we have got a pretty good chance of pulling out of the dive before we hit the ground.”

As the fight against climate change engages us on an individual level, it’s also a battle being fought in the boardrooms of corporate Australia. Uniting Church-aligned investment firm U Ethical began in 1985 and has established itself as one of the country’s largest ethical investment managers, with over $1 billion under management. “We have developed a reputation for our unwavering commitment to ethics driven performance,” U Ethical proudly declares. “Our ethical authenticity is central to who we are, not just what we do. “We aim to provide our clients with competitive returns, and as a social enterprise we contribute the majority of our operating surplus to social justice advocacy and community programs.” Not surprisingly, U Ethical regards climate change as one of the most serious issues facing Australia. That’s why it avoids managing funds for any company that causes unacceptable damage to the natural environment, and lists fossil fuel, uranium mining and nuclear energy industries as those it will not deal with. Instead, it seeks to invest in companies with robust governance, business practices and sound decarbonisation plans.

 “At U Ethical, we believe that climate change is the most defining and complex systemic risk of our time,” the company outlined in its 2021 Annual Sustainability Report. “Climate change is an intergenerational and cross-border issue, a collective action problem that will require extensive collaboration within industry and between countries. “We have reached the point where an emergency response is required.” As Head of Ethics and Impact and with a background in climate science, sustainability and infrastructure planning, Désirée Lucchese is perfectly placed to continue U Ethical’s work within a Uniting Church context in addressing the complex issue of climate change. “Historically we have always been concerned about climate change within the Uniting Church and have looked at it as a major human rights issue,” Désirée says. “In 2014, U Ethical started divesting from controversial oil and gas developments and in 2019 we fully divested from fossil fuels. “So it meant ending all possible exposure across coal, thermal coal, oil and gas.” Désirée says advocacy also plays an important role when driving home the message to corporations that fossil fuels cause climate change. “For example, we engage banks to ensure they decarbonise and reduce their investments in oil, gas and coal, in line with the science that tells us of the harm these fuels are causing,” she says. “So even if we aren’t directly invested in fossil fuel companies, we are still engaging with different sectors, including the most influential ones, to try and have their operations and capital not being invested in fossil fuels.” Désirée suggests there is much we can do on an individual level to ensure those companies managing our money are addressing the issue of climate change. “In my own case, I have my superannuation invested in an ethical fund and I don’t want it being allocated to companies that are destroying the world,” she says. “So my values say that I don’t want to have any involvement in something that impacts the real world.” Désirée urges Uniting Church members who want to take up the climate change challenge to become advocates for our world. “We must press the banks and bigger financial institutions to do the right thing around decarbonisation and reaching targets and commitments made,” she says.

“What I would say to congregations is to ask their members of parliament to invest in renewable energy and social justice and to prepare for climate adaptation. “To get to net zero emissions is a very big challenge for the world and it needs governments to invest in the subsidies, grants and infrastructure that address the issue. “To make the world a stable and adaptable world for climate change we need governments, individuals and the private sector to do their job. “On an individual level, we can look at switching to electric cars, becoming more responsible in our own household and community, trying not to travel too much and writing to our MPs to drive change.” As a university student, Désirée’s Bachelor of Science thesis was on the topic of the economics, science and international relations of climate change and, by the time she finished her studies in her early 20s, she had become increasingly concerned about the impact of climate change. “What I’m interested in are the ways we can influence and effect change and how we change organisations and shift mindsets,” she says. Part of that shifting of mindsets involves promoting the benefits of reaching net zero emissions, a vital task if we are to have any chance of reining in climate change. “You know, it’s very complex and the reality is that emissions are not reducing and we are being forced to adapt to a very rapid decline of the state of nature,” she says. “From an environmental perspective, we face a very daunting prospect. “There isn’t great cause for optimism and the escalation of the crisis is quite astonishing. “When I started looking at climate change, I never thought I would be seeing what I am now, that it would happen so fast.

“The reality is that we are facing a very challenging future, because of geopolitics, social injustice and inequality, and climate change is only going to exacerbate all of those challenges.” Désirée suggests any hope for arresting the enormous impacts of climate change will lie with our younger generations, the students and young people she often talks to about the issue. “I mentor a lot of young people and students and I see there is a lot of interest on their part and a desire to do things differently, so maybe that new generation offers us some hope,” she says.

As a member of the Port Phillip West Presbytery’s Task Group for Climate Action, Sue Strong is able to see firsthand the efforts being made by many congregations in the fight against climate change. She says St Luke’s Uniting Church in Highton, through its Repair Cafe, offers a wonderful example of what can be done to combat climate change. Congregation members are doing their bit for recycling, ensuring as little as possible goes to landfill, and therefore lessening the impact on the environment. Once a month, members of the public are invited to bring in an item that needs repair, with the aim of getting it back to working order. Customers are encouraged to stay and see how the item can be mended, thereby learning skills themselves that they can use at a later date. Mended items are then weighed, and a bell is sounded and, at the end of the day, the number of kilograms that did not go into landfill is recorded and celebrated.

Sue says Queenscliff UC is an example of another congregation determined to tackle climate change. “The Queenscliff community is committed to the gospel and if they deem an issue to be important, because it fits within their values, they will work hard to ensure that it happens,” Sue says. “So they have a natural bent towards tackling climate change. “They have also worked at creating positive relationships with their federal MP, as well as the local mayor and councillors. “Queenscliff speaks of having a profound sense of Jesus being present with people on the edge and as the earth is now on the edge, their efforts are bent towards caring for both. “They shared that, ‘we only care for what we are deeply connected to, so if we love the earth we will care. We need to begin with nurturing our relationships to earth and each other and then science can help’.”

Mark Zirnsak says it’s the actions taken by congregations such as St Luke’s and Queenscliff that will contribute much to the fight against climate change. “There are some easy things that can be done by congregations, like encouraging the use of energy-efficiency measures that will actually save them money,” he says. “It makes sense to look at something like rooftop solar panels, or swapping to green power. “Then we move to big challenges like what do we do about gas usage across all of our properties, and I know that retrofitting gas is not a cheap thing to do. “We can also look at something like the vehicle fleet used by the Synod and how they might be swapped over to electric vehicles. “That won’t be cheap but we do know that the price of electric vehicles will come down over time and that we don’t have to replace the entire fleet of vehicles by tomorrow, so you can progressively switch to EVs. “I actually think congregations can take quite significant steps without there being a big cost.”

While there are obvious economic benefits in arresting climate change, Mark Zirnsak says it’s an issue that also needs to be looked at through a social justice lens. “Climate change brings to the fore issues of global injustice and inequality,” he says. “The irony is that the countries which went through industrial development and created most of the problem with their emissions are not the ones most heavily impacted by climate change. “Those affected most are low-lying Pacific Island countries or those like Bangladesh which are financially impoverished and are feeling the weight of the negative impacts of climate change. “If you live in a Pacific Island country you are facing the real prospect of eventually it becoming uninhabitable and not having access to fresh, clean water due to rising sea levels. There is a real injustice around the fact that these people haven’t created the problem but will bear the brunt of it, and I think something like that should motivate us to take as much action as we can to mitigate climate change.” As he reflects on Kevin Rudd’s words from 15 years ago, Mark clings to a sense of hope around what is in store for us. “I am hopeful but the challenge we face as human beings is that we tend to respond well to immediate crises, whereas climate change is a very substantive problem for us globally that needs immediate action which has to be sustained over decades,” he says.

Quarterly Essay: published four times a year by Black Inc, the final edition for 2022 was Quarterly Essay No.88: Lone Wolf: Albanese and the New   Politics  by Katherine Murphy. In 2016, I read Karen Middleton’s biography of  Albanese, and at the time noted that the book   was ‘one of the more enjoyable and interesting of many political biographies I had  read  over recent years’ and I referred readers to the Coachbuilder’s Column of 22/9/2016.

Katherine Murphy’s Essay is of equal interest but taken from a later perspective when he is the man in charge [as PM]. Albo took the party leadership, and then the Prime Ministership, consequent to that original biography. But as the Essay cover says: “But to win, he had to learn to listen, to trust his team, and   to lead, understanding that sometimes leadership involves holding back rather than imagining its all on you”.

As for the correspondence  replies to the previous Essay  – ‘Uncivil Wars’ by Waleed   Aly and Scott  Stephens  –  the response by A and S made more sense to me than their actual Essay, which at the time I described as ‘a very difficult read, much of it beyond the scope of this reader’s ability to retain or comprehend [obviously a reflection on my own intelligence]. Broadly speaking, I found their Essay unclear  as to which arguments they were trying to concentrate on, and I think that absence of clarity, resulted in a large number of lengthy responses, which as the authors more or less admitted,  the responses didn’t seem to be replying to the essay as such because they likewise didn’t fully follow the   arguments that A & S were making, or misinterpreted them. The authors seem to be criticising many of the responses for misinterpreting and misunderstanding the basis of the arguments put forward in the Essay. ,I highlighted a paragraph on page 143 where A&S admit to been unsure as to how they should respond to the correspondents because they haven’t engaged with the terms of the essay,  However, they did manage to respond to the correspondents  in just over 12 pages [the longest reaction to Essay responses I’ve see previously].

Also to my reading, a number of the respondents were too intent on waving their own flag, with extensive reference to books they had written on the subject!! They would argue that was their way of making their point[s].

As for the current Essay – described as a portrait of a leader in the making, and a nation on the move: In this perceptive, compelling essay, Katharine Murphy offers a profile of Anthony Albanese in motion – a piece about character, the balance of forces, and the mood of the nation.   Are Albanese and his party up for change? Are Australians up for it? What does the new prime minister embody, if anything? Has the centre of the polity shifted, with the success of the Teals and the Greens? Where could – and should – the new government be ambitious?  This is an essay that draws out the meaning of an eventful political year, offers a telling portrait of the new prime minister, and looks to the challenges of the future.

And from the actual Essay promo:   prime minister in the making, and a nation on the move. In Lone Wolf, Katharine Murphy offers a new portrait of Anthony Albanese. She reveals a leader who has always had to think three steps ahead, who was an insurgent for much of his professional life, but had to learn to listen and devise “strategies of inclusivity” to win the 2022 election.

Following that victory, Greens leader Adam Bandt voiced hopes for “a great era of progressive reform,” but it is Albanese and Labor who will ultimately decide whether that potential is reached or not.

Drawing on interviews with Albanese, Bandt, Penny Wong, Jim Chalmers, Mark Butler, Katy Gallagher, Simon Holmes à Court, Zoe Daniel and more, Murphy’s brilliant essay draws out the meaning of an eventful political year. She offers a telling character study of the prime minister, investigates the success of the teals and the Greens, and looks to the challenges of the future.

“Taking the party leadership was both a beginning and an ending. Insurgency was done. New skills were required … Albanese knew how to recruit people to a cause and to get them to a similar place. He’d been doing that since his teens. But to win, he had to learn to listen, to trust his team and to lead, understanding that sometimes leadership involves holding back rather than imagining it’s all on you.” Katharine Murphy, Lone Wolf

With respect to the previous Essay I referred to above, the following summarises Waleed Aly & Scott Stephens subject of ‘Uncivil Wars   –  Is our democracy corroding? In this original, eloquent essay, Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens explore the ethics and politics of public debate – and the threat it now faces.

In a healthy society we need the capacity to disagree. Yet Aly and Stephens note a growing tendency to disdain and dismiss opponents, to treat them with contempt. This toxic partisanship has been imported from the United States, where it has been a temptation for both left and right. Aly and Stephens discuss some telling examples, analyse the role of the media, and look back to heroes of democracy who found a better way forward.

Arguing that democracy cannot survive contempt, they draw on philosophy, literature and history to make an urgent case about the present.

‘So what do we owe those with whom we might profoundly, even radically, disagree? In our time, the answer increasingly seems to be: Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We’ve come to regard our opponents as not much more than obstructions in the road, impediments standing between us and our desired end. We have grown disinclined to consider what it might mean to go on together meaningfully as partners within a shared democratic project. To put it bluntly, we see no future with our political opponents because we feel we have nothing to learn from them.‘ -Waleed Aly & Scott Stephens, Uncivil Wars

My comments and shared reviews on a series of publications read during the final two months of 2022, as listed below [four of which were published this year].

• The Boy from Boomerang Crescent’ by Eddie Betts [2022];
• The Rouseabout’ by Rachael Treasure [2007] ;
• Exiles by Jane Harper [2022];
• The Opera House by Peter FitzSimons [2022];
• The Stockmen by Rachael Treasure [2004];
• Heart of Dreaming by Di Morrissey [1991];
• A Riverman’s Story’ by E.M. ‘Mick’ Kelsall [1986] and,
• The Book of Roads and Kingdoms [2022].

1. ‘Eddie Betts: The Boy from Boomerang Crescent’ by Eddie Betts, published in 2022, 289 pages

A fairly basic, easily read auto biography by Eddie.  As someone wrote – “Betts is a true giant of the AFL. With a career boasting 350-plus games, over 600 goals, multiple All-Australian nods and Goal of the Year awards, he has earned a rare league-wide popularity”. As noted on the front cover – ‘Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, and always honest’  – a lot of pre-publication publicity was centred on his views about racism and associated factors, but Eddie was fairly [in my view]  ‘calm’ on that side of things, saying it as he saw it, but not going over the top in terms of massive tirades about the problem, simply highlighting the various issues when they arose, and providing an honest but reasoned view in each instance. He was in Adelaide of course when the ‘pre-season training course saga’ occurred and was also there when the Adelaide coach was murdered by a family member – honest descriptions of the trauma, and heart ache etc, that arose at those times. He highlighted the return to Carlton for his final two seasons, considered that time to be his ‘return home’ in football terms.

The theme of his book – “It’s a long hard road from the Nullarbor to the MCG’

A popular comment shared by most book sellers, etc was –

“How does a self-described ‘skinny Aboriginal kid’ overcome a legacy of family tragedy to become an AFL legend? One thing’s for sure: it’s not easy. But then, there’s always been something special about Eddie.
Betts grew up in Port Lincoln and Kalgoorlie, in environments where the destructive legacies of colonialism – racism, police targeting of Aboriginal people, drug and alcohol misuse, family violence – were sadly normalised. His childhood was defined by family closeness as well as family strife, plus a wonderful freedom that he and his cousins exploited to the full – for better and for worse.
When he made the decision to take his talents across the Nullarbor to Melbourne to chase his footballing dreams – homesickness be damned – everything changed. Over the ensuing years, Betts became a true giant of the sport with a league-wide popularity rarely seen in the hyper-tribal AFL.
Along the way, he battled his demons before his turbulent youth settled into responsible maturity. Today, the man the Melbourne tabloids once dubbed ‘bad boy Betts’ is a dedicated husband and father, a respected community leader and an increasingly outspoken social activist”

From a series of reviewers, the following are some of the principal facts about Eddie and the book that are highlighted.

Eddie Betts takes us from his humble beginnings as a kid chasing a footy around a park in contests with his brothers and extended family, to a stellar 17-year career in the AFL. A small forward with an uncanny ability to read the play, he played 350 games with Carlton (2005 to 2013, 2020 to 2021) and Adelaide (2014 to 2019), kicked 640 goals, was a member of three All Australian teams (2015, 2016, 2017), won four AFL Goal of the Year Awards (2006, 2015, 2016, 2017) and was chosen as a member of Indigenous All-Stars, All-Stars and (Australian) international teams (against Irish Gaelic Football players). He participated in one Grand Final in 2017 when Adelaide were soundly defeated by Richmond.

But this is much more than a ‘Glory Book’.

Eddie Betts is an Indigenous Australian. He begins his book by paying tribute to the football skills of his grandfather, Edward Frederick Betts, and recounting his death on the floor of a Port Lincoln prison cell. In 1968, his grandfather attended a hospital feeling unwell, but was only given a cursory examination. He checked himself out, but later returned to the hospital, complaining of a pain in his stomach. He became ‘increasingly agitated’ about the lack of attention. The hospital called the police and he was arrested for being intoxicated. He died of heart failure later that day; he was not intoxicated. Eddie Betts sees the major function of his book as being to educate readers to what it means to be a Blackfulla (his spelling) in contemporary Australia. He writes:

I know that playing footy has given me a platform and if I can use it to educate people about what it’s like growing up in an environment where it’s seen as normal for the police to take people away, then it might help.

Throughout The Boy From Boomerang Crescent Betts emphasises the importance of being with his mob and how it gives him a sense of stability and belonging.

When I think back to my childhood, what I really recall is that it was all about family. We never went without and we were raised with a strong sense of belonging. Our family made sacrifices for each other and we learned to put others before ourselves. We were taught to respect our Elders and our traditions, and, most importantly, we were taught to have a strong sense of self-identity.

Betts provides accounts of how mobs – whether a group of Indigenous players, or a family – help each other out; how people open up their homes to young players, giving them somewhere to stay and a place to feel welcome as they embark on their footy careers. He always seems to be happiest when there are lots of people around, with everyone sharing babysitting, child-minding, food preparation and other chores. When he was drafted by Carlton, his mother, aunt, sisters and cousins came across from Kalgoorlie to keep him company as he embarked on his career.

On a couple of occasions Betts refers to racism he experienced as a player. After he won the Goal of the Year Award in 2006, he received a new car (which he could keep for a year). Driving around Melbourne he was stopped by police who assumed he had stolen this flash new car. He also refers to hate mail he received on social media and racist abuse from fans at games. Once he wanted to go public on a racist letter he had received and was talked out of it by Adelaide, something that he regrets.

… essentially they talked [me] into not saying anything. Upon reflection, they were trying to minimise any type of media circus before my game, but maybe this was more important than the game itself?

This seems to have occurred at about the same time that the Indigenous Sydney Swans star Adam Goodes was being routinely booed by spectators, which the AFL failed to address. On another occasion, a spectator at a ‘Showdown’ in a game against Port Adelaide racially abused Eddie Betts and threw a banana at him. To their credit, the Port Adelaide supporters called it out. On this occasion both clubs

Clubs look for an edge in trying to achieve sporting success. Adelaide was one of the stronger clubs during the time Eddie Betts was there, reaching, and ultimately losing, the 2017 Grand Final. Following this loss, Adelaide entered into an arrangement with a group called Collective Minds. The longest chapter in the book is devoted to Collective Minds and a training camp they held prior to the 2018 season. This involved placing players under physical and psychological pressure that, it was claimed, would enhance their ability to perform and compete. As part of this, participants were given a one-hour phone consultation with a counsellor.

While at the camp participants were restrained and required to perform a physical task while under duress. While this was going on, Betts says,

I heard things yelled at me that I had disclosed to the camp’s counsellors about my upbringing. All the people present heard these things. By the time I got my teammates off my back, I was exhausted, drained and distressed about the details being shared. Another camp-dude jumped on top of me and started to berate me about my mother, something so deeply personal that I was absolutely shattered to hear it came out of his mouth.

Then:

This scenario was repeated for each and every one of the boys and we were all recruited to provide the verbal abuse aimed at our teammates. I will live with this shame for the rest of my life.

The camp finished and what had transpired was supposed to be kept in-house, presumably with Adelaide marching on to football glory. The story got out, it split the club, heads rolled, and Adelaide has been in the bottom half of the ladder ever since. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that Adelaide failed in its duty of care to provide its employees with a safe working environment. A similar fate befell Essendon when they experimented with drugs to enhance success on the field in 2013; it is still languishing in the bottom half of the table.

Eddie Betts comes across as a person for whom the glass is always half full. He realises that his skills as a footballer have given him a happy and fulfilled life. When he embarked on his second year with Carlton he was unable to read or write. The Australian Football League Players’ Association provided tutors to help players like him, and he was smart enough to jump on board and learn how to read and write and help others in a similar position. He has gone on to publish two children’s books, My Kind and My People, as part of his Eddie’s Lil’ Homies series.

2. ‘The Rouseabout’ by Rachael Treasure, pub in 2007,  343 pages.

This was the 4^th of Rachael’s novels I have read, as usual, set in a rural Australian environment, this time, in the main, in Tasmania, about rural families. An easy to read and entertaining book. I am one of Rachael’s hundreds of Face Book friends, and apart from her novels [still a few to catch up on] I enjoy her many ‘rural’ related postings of her farm life, her animals, and her attitudes to environmental issues, all of which come in varying degrees through her novels.

A brief summary – “ Kate Webster is a loveable larrikin who likes to play hard now and worry about the consequences later. She can’t help mucking up the opportunities life gives her. Rocked by the death of her mother, she takes on a dare at one of Australia’s wildest rural social events – a Bachelors & Spinsters ball – to ‘scalp’ gorgeous farm boy Nick McDonnell. It’s a dare that changes everything. For just as Kate is ready to start her new life, away from her grieving father and the pressures of the family farm, she discovers she is pregnant. Now, several years later, with toddler Nell by her side, it’s time for Kate to come home to face the music – and the father of her child . . .”

Set on the beautiful island of Tasmania, where Rachael Treasure once kicked up her own heels at B&S balls, The Rouseabout is an unforgettable story about discovering the things that truly matter, and finding love that lasts

[Rachael Treasure lives in Southern Tasmania with her two teenage children and husband Daniel. Together they are establishing the educational Ripple Farm Landscape Healing Hub to share regenerative agricultural principles and Natural Sequence Farming techniques. Rachael’s first novel, Jillaroo, blazed a trail in the Australian publishing industry for other rural women writers and is now considered an iconic work of contemporary fiction.
Rachael began her working life as a jillaroo before studying at Orange Agricultural College (now University of Sydney), and received a BA of Communications at Charles Sturt University. She has worked as a journalist on many publications in Australia’s rural print sector and for ABC rural radio.]

3. ‘Exiles’ by Jane Harper, published in 2022,  410 pages.

Another of Harper’s  mystery rural environment novels set mainly here in Victoria.

Not sure why, but I found this novel a little too drawn out, with a rather tame ending as the ‘villains’ in the story were revealed… a quiet mystery that centres on two unsolved crimes in a small town in Southern Australia. I took myself away from a couple of quite serious and heavier books for a bit of light reading, which Exiles proved to be.

As a brief summary –  At a busy festival site on a warm spring night, a baby lies alone in her pram, her mother vanishing into the crowds.  A year on, Kim Gillespie’s absence casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather deep in the heart of South Australian wine country to welcome a new addition to the family.
Joining the celebrations is federal investigator Aaron Falk. But as he soaks up life in the lush valley, he begins to suspect this tight-knit group may be more fractured than it seems.
Between Falk’s closest friend, a missing mother, and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge.  An outstanding novel, a brilliant mystery and a heart-pounding read from the author of The Dry, Force of Nature, The Lost Man and The Survivors

But as I suggested, a little drawn out –  yet I suppose that is the essence of a mystery!!

 4. ‘The Opera House’ by Peter Fitzsimons’, published in 2022, 560 pages.

 A wonderful and interesting read  –  the story extended over many years with the planning, construction, and early years of the completed building. A great deal of architectural and engineering detail, which at times was well beyond my comprehension. The human side of the whole process dealt with in considerable detail, and the long term affect on the original  architect, Jorn Utzon from Denmark, his family, and many of the other individuals associated with the project over two or three decades. Written in Fitzsimons’  typical writing style

From the general  shared synopsis of this book, we read – “Epic and engaging, in The Opera House Australia’s greatest storyteller captures the drama and history of Australia’s most iconic building.

On a sacred site on the land of the Gadigal people, Tubowgule, a place of gathering and storytelling for over 60,000 years, now sits the Sydney Opera House. It is a breathtaking building recognised around the world as a symbol of modern Australia. Along with the Taj Mahal and other World Heritage sites, it is celebrated for its architectural grandeur and the daring and innovation of its design. But this stunning house on what is now called Bennelong Point also holds  many sorrows, secrets and scandals. In this fascinating and impeccably researched biography, Peter FitzSimons exposes these secrets, marvels at how this magnificent building came to be, details its enthralling history and reveals the dramatic stories about the people whose lives were affected, both negatively and positively, by its presence. Ambition, dispossession, betrayal, professional rivalry, sexual intrigue, murder, bullying and breakdowns are woven into the creation of this masterpiece of human ingenuity. The Opera House shares the extraordinary stories connected to this building that are as mesmerising as the light catching on its white sails”.

Now in looking for a professional review of the book, I turned to the MusicTrust.com for the opinions of the writer there, Loretta Barnard [from the 3^rd July, 2022]

“Where a more academically inclined text might prompt a bit of skim-reading, The Opera House is utterly engrossing. Definitely no skimming.”

‘I sometimes wonder whether those future architectural historians who will write about the Sydney Opera House will understand how largely its fate was influenced by the politics of the state of New South Wales – straight, knock-down, drag-out party politics’. So wrote John Yeomans back in 1968. Construction on this challenging project began in 1959, and at the time Yeomans was writing, it was still be another five years before completion. At its opening in  October 1973, Queen Elizabeth remarked that while the Sydney Opera House had captured the world’s imagination, ‘I understand that its construction has not been totally without problems’. An understatement, to say the least.

In this weighty tome, author Peter Fitzsimons takes us on a journey detailing the extraordinary history of arguably Australia’s most iconic building, one of the most recognisable buildings in the world. From the prologue right through to the epilogue, he tells a sprawling story, one that encompasses many changes not only to Sydney but to the nation. The place we know as Bennelong Point, named because it was ‘gifted’ to senior Aboriginal man Bennelong by Governor Phillip in 1791, was always a place of music and storytelling; men and women of the Eora Nation maintaining their ceremonies in spite of the unwelcome presence of the white invaders. By 1821, however, Governor Macquarie’s fort, designed by convict architect Francis Greenway, had well and truly replaced Bennelong’s stone hut and wiped out any prospect of ceremony, music or even simple enjoyment of the natural environment. But the new building, intended to defend the colony, was ridiculed as a useless fortification and by 1830, officers were putting on theatrical performances at the site. By the turn of the twentieth century, Fort Macquarie was demolished to make way for a tram depot. But something more ambitious was in the offing for Bennelong Point, something that would change the face of Sydney forever, and – as befits the site – music and storytelling were at its core.

The Opera House is structured to allow readers to gain a sense of various relevant events happening simultaneously but in different places, with the result that the overall historical picture and context of these events is immediately apparent. It’s a terrific approach, and while some purists may not like his occasional novelistic writing style, FitzSimons succeeds in making the reader feel immersed in the subject rather than simply reading about it.

Chapter 1, for instance, interweaves significant events such as the establishment of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932 and its effect on the national landscape – by the end of the 1930s, the ABC’s reputation as a source of news and quality entertainment was unequalled – with an introduction to the young Jørn Utzon, who by the end of his architecture studies in Denmark in the 1940s, was already garnering praise for his exceptional and unorthodox designs. We move then to the ABC’s visionary general manager Charles Moses who by 1946 had convinced the board to establish full ABC orchestras in every state, beginning with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Sydney’s Town Hall was then the major venue for such artistic events, but the idea of an opera house, first mooted back in 1928 by noted theatrical entrepreneur Benjamin Fuller, was now at the forefront of the NSW premier’s mind.

By now I’ve read only about 35 pages, and while, like many people interested in Australia’s yesteryears, I already knew much of the history of these early times, already I’ve learned a great deal more – and in cracking detail. This is a meticulously researched and referenced work, FitzSimons acknowledging his masterful team of researchers. And it’s a real page turner. It’s not for nothing that he’s a best-selling author. Where a more academically inclined text might prompt a bit of skim-reading, The Opera House is utterly engrossing. Definitely no skimming.

It’s difficult writing a short review when there’s so much to say about this book. FitzSimons appears to have covered everything: from the nitty-gritty of how the planning committee settled on an international competition to find a suitable architect and how they reached their decision; to the myriad steps and legion of professionals needed to make Utzon’s design a reality; and even how the project played a part in the 1960 abduction and murder of eight-year-old Bondi boy Graeme Thorne, a tragic case that gripped the nation.

The main players are many and varied. That their roles and personalities are described so well gives the whole book a tangibility, a characteristic not always evident in dry historical accounts. Of course, Jørn Utzon is a towering presence. Obviously his inventive, brilliant design is central to the book, but there’s a great deal about his pre-Opera House years, the way he worked, his family and colleagues; and notably the way he was received in Australia. He was embraced by Sydneysiders, who were excited about having a world-class opera house in their city, one that would rival the greatest opera houses in Europe.

There’s a wealth of stories told across 18 chapters, with much to relish, such as the exceptional cultural legacy of celebrated English conductor Eugene Goossens, who headed both the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the NSW Conservatorium of Music between 1947-1956, and the public shame of his ignominious fall from grace. It was a sad end for a man whose personal vision of a grand opera house on Bennelong Point played a large part in giving us the architectural masterpiece that sits there today. From 1956 onwards, his early contribution was shamelessly ignored by the powers that be, and it was with a happy sense of justice that I read the final paragraphs of the last chapter.

There’s the political wherewithal and ‘let’s get it done’ manner of NSW Labor premier JJ Cahill, who’s surely worth a biography of his own. That Cahill’s Labor government was keen to surge ahead with Utzon’s inspired design surprised many who carried the stereotypical attitude that the so-called working class isn’t interested in culture. Indeed, over the turbulent period of the building’s construction, the most obstructionist views came from the conservative side of politics. In fact, it’s fair to say that the Liberal government was openly antagonistic towards the entire enterprise. Robert Askin, Liberal premier between 1965-1975, had long been vehemently opposed to the idea of an opera house. His Minister for Public Works, Davis Hughes, was particularly aggressive in his dealings with Utzon. Of course, in a project of this magnitude, things didn’t always go to plan. There were setbacks aplenty and costs soared, helping to feed the staggering political argy-bargy surrounding the project.

One of the book’s strengths is that FitzSimons not only includes such things as the combative correspondence between Utzon and Hughes, but also media reports, and letters from the general public to newspaper editors. By 1965, the architect was being viewed as either a visionary or as an ‘irresponsible artist’; he was pilloried in the press for not foreseeing any logistical contingencies, thus allowing costs to blow out. Readers are thus given a very rounded picture of the changing fortunes of both Utzon and his creation. As we know, Utzon resigned in 1966 and went back to Denmark. He never returned to see the how his Opera House was ultimately completed by architects Peter Hall, David Littlemore and Lionel Todd.

The Opera House contains many little-known nuggets of information about the project and the people involved. I found the story of filmmaker John Weiley and his documentary made in the mid-1960s startling. Readers are given insights into crucial roles played by engineers such as Ove Arup and Jack Zunz; we learn about public protests following Utzon’s resignation; and we see the personal toll that Stage III of construction put on those tasked with completing the job.

This is a thoroughly researched examination of the history of the Sydney Opera House from conception to completion, with a concluding epilogue that tells us what happened to the major and minor players in the whole story. I would have liked more photographs, but perhaps that’s quibbling. The book also contains detailed endnotes, a wide-ranging bibliography and comprehensive index. This is not only a valuable reference book on the building that American architect Frank Gehry said ‘changed the image of the entire country’, it’s also a smashing read.

5. The Stockmen’ by Rachael Treasure’, published in 2004. 374 pages.

Written with the normal theme  basically  of a rural landscape and environment about the people of small town scenarios.  Easily read over a short period in a style that you don’t want to put it aside, but continue to search for the mystery sitting behind the broad storyline.  It’s one of those novels that moves between two periods of time.

Thoroughly enjoyable, perhaps dragged out a bit too much to the ultimate revelations of the story-line.  There are in fact a number of female Australian authors, who perhaps write on a similar theme, each having produced a series of successful novels which tend to reflect a rural and/or small-town lifestyle.

The generally accepted review of the book reads as follows:

“Rosie Highgrove-Jones grows up hating her double-barrelled name. She dreams of riding out over the wide plains of the family property, working on the land. Instead she’s stuck writing the social pages of the local paper.
Then a terrible tragedy sparks a series of shocking revelations for Rosie and her family. As she tries to put her life back together, Rosie throws herself into researching the haunting true story of a 19th century Irish stockman who came to Australia and risked his all for a tiny pup and a wild dream. Is it just coincidence when Rosie meets a sexy Irish stockman of her own? And will Jim help her realise her deepest ambitions – or will he break her heart?
The Stockmen moves effortlessly between the present and the past to reveal a simple yet hard-won truth – that both love and the land are timeless” .

As with the earlier reviewed novel [The Rouseabout], a great bit of light pleasant reading.

6. A Riverman’s Story’ by E.M. ‘Mick’ Kelsall, published in 1986, 265 pages.

Much of the story centred around the Moama area and adjacent towns in the area of the Murray River during the1920’s/1930’s period.  This book certainly brought out the difficult conditions that many had to live under in that period, especially with no permanent employment and the dangers of alcohol for eg as being the only really option of release from the daily grind. Seemingly, the author takes it all with a ‘grain of salt’ despite the many challenges that life throws up for him, from a very young age. Described by one commentator, referring to the author ‘Mick’,  as ‘one of the great characters of the Riverboat days of the Murray River’.

In our modern relative comfort and security, I have to say this book does not depict a very pleasant way of surviving from day to day in those times for the less well-off!!

‘Goodreads’ reviews the ‘A Riverman’s Story’ as follows.

The Murray River was young Mick Kelsall’s playground as he grew up among the battlers in the Echuca district in a time of chronic rural un-employment. Later, like his father, he gave his strength in the tough world of the barges and timber getters, fruit pickers, labourers and tramps who struggled for survival around the river towns.
Mick’s story of a rough and tumble life on the edge of disaster is full of gusto- the rough schooling, the riverside gangs, the fruit stealing, hunting, fishing, trespassing and troublemaking have Mick and his mates a mere half step ahead of authority.
But the Murray River, finding any work and helping to keep his family together are the three forces in Mick’s life and draw him inevitably to follow two old drinking mates, his cantankerous father and the scandalous Uncle Bob, on their forays on the river and in the bush.
The river is always part of life- it’s beauty and tranquility touching a young man’s soul, its floods and hidden hazards treating life, its currents carrying his outrigger barge, like a floating juggernaut, to the mills.
A Riverman’s Story is a story as rich and varied as the river itself-always moving, sometimes turbulent and a witness to a great parade of life.

7. ‘Heart of Dreaming’ by Di Morrissey’, and early novel published in 1991, this was a PAN paperback edition of 640  pages.

I read this over about 3 days, easy read, finishing in a rather tearful manner, with one of Di’s ‘happy’ endings!  Although some of these stories tend to be a bit ‘over the top’ in terms of imagination, like the novels of Rachael Treasure and other Australian female authors, I enjoy collecting and reading their novels, generally, though not always in Di’s case, based in a rural Australian setting  –   this one centred in western and central NSW outback areas, and also Sydney in the 1980s [the Opera House has being open for a while] around the Balmain and Randwick areas, and also up in the Blue Mountains.

From the general publicity blurb about this novel, we read:

“The book that launched Di Morrissey as Australia’s most popular female novelist.
At twenty-one, Queenie Hanlon has the world at her feet and the love of handsome bushman TR Hamilton. Beautiful, wealthy and intelligent, she is the only daughter of Tingulla Station, the famed outback property in the wilds of western Queensland.  At twenty-two, her life is in ruins. A series of disasters has robbed her of everything she has ever loved. Everything except Tingulla – her ancestral home and her spirit’s Dreaming place…
And now she is about to lose that too………An extraordinary story of thwarted love and heroic struggle, Heart of the Dreaming is the tale of one woman’s courage and her determination to take on the world and win”

I think this was in fact her debut novel and formed part of a series. I believe I only have three of Di’s novels to track down of the 29 she has now written – The Last Rose of Summer [1992], The Last Mile Home [1994] and Kimberley Sun [2002].

8. ‘The Book of Roads & Kingdoms’ [From the wonders of imperial Baghdad to the dark-lands at the ends of the earth] by Richard Fidler, published in 2022, 430

As with Fidler’s previous books a lot of fascinating history, much detailed material, names and places – my only difficulty was keeping track of the various characters and place names over the centuries covered by the book.  I soon realised it was essentially a history of the rises and falls of Islam, and the many associated powers and kingdoms that won, dominated and usually eventually lost to a stronger power, so much cruelty over the centuries as one group of people replaces another.

I guess there is little surprise in that –  when brother plots against brother, or son murders father to achieve his ‘believed’ right –  no surprise that an invading force would show no compassion or care for those they are invading, repeated time and again over the centuries, Christian annihilating Muslim cities,    Islamic armies destroying Christian civilisations., and of course the Mongol generations of Genghis Khan and their paths of destruction for the power of domination and ownership, to name just a few examples.

As just one depiction from hundreds of years  of invasion and counter-invasion,  and the regular ‘slaughter’ of peoples that accompanied such incursions, we look at the early 1200’s and the lead-up to the destruction of the Islamic 500 year domination through Baghdad, as the then city to the north, Merv, is obliterated

From pages 348-349:

“With his enemy dead and his need for vengeance satisfied, Genghis Ghan could now return to the East to resume his invasion of China. Before leaving, he entrusted his youngest son, Tolui with the task of subduing all of Khorasan and capturing the great city of  Merv. Once again, the city’s garrison  refused to surrender, but the civilian leaders, torn by dissension, buckled under the pressure and opened the city’s gates.

Bukhara and Samarkand would one day recover from the Mongol assaults, but Tolui ensured that Merv never would. Seated in a golden chair outside the city, he ordered every last inhabitant to leave the city and then looked on impassively as almost every one of them was slaughtered. Historians place the city’s population at the time at 200,000. The killing took four days and nights to complete.

Merv, now emptied of its population, was sacked and its complex irrigation system wrecked. The gleaming mausoleum of the Sultan Sunjar, capped with a glazed turquoise dome, was Rnsacked and demolished in the search for treasure. Three weeks after the massacre, thousands of people who had been hiding in boltholes and cellars emerged from the rubble, but were picked off by Mongol patrols kept behind for this purpose. Afterwards, Mongol soldiers built towering pyramids with the skulls of the dead.

Having won control  of these emptied cities, the Mongols would here and there attempt to rebuild and repopulate them. But Merv, a metropolis once renowned for its orchards, gardens, mosques and palaces was too far gone. Today the site of what was briefly  one of the world’s largest cities, is a forgotten, silent ruin in modern-day Turkmenistan. Mammoth brickworks poke up from the arid ground like broken teeth…”

Using the blurb from the book’s cover, and as repeated through many publisher’s promos , we read:

“A lost imperial city, full of wonder and marvels. An empire that was the largest the world had ever seen, established with astonishing speed. A people obsessed with travel, knowledge and adventure.  When Richard Fidler came across the account of Ibn Fadlan – a tenth-century Arab diplomat who travelled all the way from Baghdad to the cold riverlands of modern-day Russia – he was struck by how modern his voice was, like that of a twenty-first century time-traveller dropped into a medieval wilderness. On further investigation, Fidler discovered this was just one of countless reports from Arab and Persian travellers of their adventures in medieval China, India, Africa and Byzantium. Put together, he saw these stories formed a crazy quilt picture of a lost world.  The Book of Roads & Kingdoms is the story of the medieval wanderers who travelled out to the edges of the known world during Islam’s fabled Golden Age; an era when the caliphs of Baghdad presided over a dominion greater than the Roman Empire at its peak, stretching from North Africa to India. Imperial Baghdad, founded as the ‘City of Peace’, quickly became the biggest and richest metropolis in the world. Standing atop one of the city’s four gates, its founder proclaimed: Here is the Tigris River, and nothing stands between it and China.  In a flourishing culture of science, literature and philosophy, the citizens of Baghdad were fascinated by the world and everything in it. Inspired by their Prophet’s commandment to seek knowledge all over the world, these traders, diplomats, soldiers and scientists left behind the cosmopolitan pleasures of Baghdad to venture by camel, horse and boat into the unknown. Those who returned from these distant foreign lands wrote accounts of their adventures, both realistic and fantastical – tales of wonder and horror and delight.  Fidler expertly weaves together these beautiful and thrilling pictures of a dazzling lost world with the story of an empire’s rise and utterly devastating fall.

In searching for a professional review of this book, I settled on the Russell Wenholz commentary, which appeared in the Canberra Times of the 26 November 2022

“The latest book by Richard Fidler is more about kingdoms than roads, and rather than kingdoms, it is about caliphates – caliphates ruled by a line of Caliphs; from the birth of Muhammad (c.570) to the taking of Baghdad by the Mongols of Genghis Khan (1258). For most of that time, the Caliphs were based in Baghdad.

Fidler chose to give his book the same title as one of his favourite sources – The Book of Roads and Kingdoms, compiled by Ibn Khordadbeh, “a compendium of maps, trade routes, and descriptions of foreign lands lying north, south, east and west of Baghdad”.

He warmed to his subject. “Medieval Baghdad…an immortal city of the imagination, as a dream-like labyrinth filled with bold thieves and bottled jinn, giant birds and talking fish, with princes and princely doppelgangers with hidden gardens and houses inhabited by strange and dangerous women…”

Fidler’s work is divided into six “books”. The first begins with the Roman and Persian empires contesting to control the region. Then out of Arabia, led by Muhammed, comes a third power which eclipses them both.

A sequence of Caliphs, their conquests, births, deaths – often assassinations – and battles take the reader to the year 762 and the founding of Baghdad. Wisely, Fidler includes a timeline listing all the events described.

Early in this first book, Fidler makes the point that “the invasion of Christian-dominated lands by the early Islamic State were often cruel and brutal, but they were not the totalising campaigns of religious extermination associated with the modern Islamic army….the early Arab conquests fought to impose political rather than religious supremacy over the subject population.”

The next four books are titled West, East, South and North – the directions of expansion of the Moslem empire from Baghdad.

West: Moslems cross northern Africa, then to Spain, and the Islamic influence on the history of Sicily. There’s also an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Constantinople; they negotiate with Charlemagne and realise the limit of their advance into the Holy Roman Empire.

East: In search of a fabled wall constructed by Alexander the Great, Moslems find traces of ancient cities buried in the sands of the Talamakan desert.

Fidler here, moves forward to the nineteenth century to relate how Europeans investigated this region and found a branch of the Great Wall of China and unique Buddhist habitations – including a repository of ancient documents.

South: Moslem seafarers who sail to East Africa, India and Sri Lanka, and became involved in local rebellions. This Book contains several stories and legends from these regions.

North: A Moslem expedition travels from Baghdad, north, between the Caspian and Aral Seas to the kingdom of the Bulgars on the Upper Volga River – a distance of over 4,000 kilometres.

Fidler’s source for this journey is the work of a conscientious diarist, Ibn Fadlan. He witnessed a horrific Viking funeral ceremony.

The sixth book covers the devastating incursion of Genghis Khan and his “Mongol hordes”. Their brutality exceeded that displayed by the earlier Moslem armies; the word “slaughter” occurs frequently in this final Book. The Mongol campaign culminates with a grandson of Khan reaching Baghdad.

There are a multitude of historical figures in the narrative, with unfamiliar Arabic names. Again, wisely, preceding each of Fidler’s books is a list of the major characters involved. There are also good maps.

The Book of Roads and Kingdoms encompasses a period of 700 years, so Fidler has had to decide which historical persons are most relevant to his story and, having made that decision, he then has to decide which events in the chosen persons’ lives were the most significant and interesting.

This, Fidler has done successfully – all the while being aware that “medieval accounts of true historical events were often spiced with exaggerations and fabrications slanted to suit the prejudices of their intended audiences”.

This shorter contribution looks at two recently read novels [birthday gifts in October], and also includes a brief reference to two small booklets principally dealing with the gold rush history of Ballarat [site of the 1854 Eureka Stockade rebellion in Australia].

I recently finished reading ‘The Night Tide’ by Di Morrissey [published 2022], 403 pages – another excellent & interesting novel from this author, most of whose novels I have read and possess.  As before, a story that was easy to read [unlike a couple of more serious historical books I’m ploughing through at the moment] and was difficult to put down, as evidenced by the speedy read over two days. And, being set in Australia, while not necessarily parts of the country I was intimately familiar with, her stories so often add a touch of local nostalgia.

From general reviews – After an election upheaval, Dominic Cochrane decides it’s time to leave his twenty-year political staffer career behind. He opts to stay at a friend’s converted waterside boatshed in a quiet bay in a Sydney backwater.  The long-time neighbours take Dom into their fold, but his peaceful retreat is quickly upended as he becomes embroiled in a tragic mystery.
As money sharks circle treasured family homes in the secluded community, tensions mount as their way of life is threatened, secrets are exposed and old wounds reopened. Can Dom unravel what really happened so many years ago, or have the secrets been swept away on the dark night tide?

A reflection on DI Morrissey’s inspiration in her words for the book, taken from Channel 9’s ‘A Current Affair’

Pittwater, on Sydney’s northern peninsula, could very well be the prettiest place to call home.

It’s where author Di Morrissey spent her childhood and it’s the inspiration and location of her latest novel, The Night Tide.  “I was about four when my mother moved down from the country and the biggest memory probably is that big house up there. That’s Dorothea Mackella’s house, Tarrangaua,” Morrissey told A Current Affair.

With her daughter Gabrielle by her side, Morrissey has returned home for the first time in decades.

“She came out and she caught me looking around the house and she said, ‘what do you think you’re doing?’,” Morrissey recalled about her childhood neighbour, Mackellar.

“And I said quite cleverly, ‘I’m looking for fairies’ and she said, ‘how terribly splendid, I’ll help you look’.

“She said, ‘do you like to read’? and I said, ‘I don’t have many books so I make up my own’ and she said, ‘when you grow up you must put your stories down in books for other people to read’. I thought ‘what a good idea’.”

After a short journey onboard historic Elvina, the same ferry Morrissey once took to school, we arrived at Lovett Bay. Caretaker Gerty was there to greet us and to give us a much-needed push up the steep, dirt road to Tarrangaua.  A secluded sandstone retreat among the gum trees is the home of the acclaimed poet and Morrissey’s childhood neighbour, Mackellar.  “You couldn’t ‘movie set’ this, you couldn’t make a place up like this, which is why I wanted to use this setting in the book,” Morrissey said while looking out at the view.  “I can imagine now how natural it would’ve been to develop all the imagination that you have,” Gabrielle said.

Her first was Heart of Dreaming in 1991 and she’s hardly missed a year since without having a novel published.

But there’s something special, indeed nostalgic, about her latest book.

“The people that lived here – Chips Rafferty’s house was straight over there – Chips was like my godfather, Dorothea Mackellar was living here, George English the composer was over there,” Morrissey said.

“So, I thought everybody did things like this.  “You need trees and you need places you can sit and be still and be silent and imagine things. There are too few.”

The book focuses on a mystery and a family tragedy, which unfortunately Morrissey’s encountered herself.

“My father and baby brother drowned off Scotland Island. He had a little water taxi service. Michael fell overboard and my father jumped in after him in his winter clothes,” Morrissey said.

“I never went to the funeral, I never had closure. So to have my daughter here with me today, it’s kind of the closing of one book and opening of another.”  With a story as much about family, as it is about place, it’s only fitting that Gabrielle has returned home from the United States to be closer to her mum.

She calls it a perk of COVID-19.  “Happy doesn’t even cover it, it just feels like home, it feels right to be raising my kids here,” Gabrielle said.

[Di Morrissey is one of the most successful authors Australia has ever produced. She trained as a journalist, working in the media around the world. Her fascination with different countries; their landscape, their cultural, political and environmental issues, forms the inspiration for her novels. Di is a tireless activist for many causes: opposing large scale development and commercial food chains into Byron Bay NSW, fighting gas and mining intrusion into sacred lands in the Kimberly, and stopping massive and unnecessary power lines intruding into the Manning Valley NSW. Di also established The Golden Land Education Foundation in Myanmar. Di lives in the Manning Valley, NSW].

Another birthday gift in 2022 was –  ‘Bodies of Light’ by Jennifer Down, published in 2021,427 pages –  as one description put it about this winner of the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award, ‘Bodies of Light is Jennifer Down’s third book and her best yet… A brilliant, sharply observed and deeply affecting epic that secures Down’s status as one of the best writers in Australia today. ‘ ‘A remarkably empathic book…a life that the reader cannot deny.’

This was a very confronting book, written in the first person, given the impression it was a direct biography of the writer’s life  –  it is a story of a life in full – tragedy, heartbreak, sexual abuse, alcohol, drug abuse,  the loss of babies, short-lived relationships, and constant reminders of a traumatic past in the absence of family, friends, psychiatric breakdowns  –  the full gambit of things which can go wrong from a child initially passed through various care and foster homes, most of which were totally inadequate in terms of permanence, safety and life style guidance.

I was attracted to the book from an ABC ‘book review’ program earlier this year, but didn’t really anticipate what I was letting myself into, as far as a view into the life of someone who would face so many obstacles and tragedies in her life.

The following opening three paragraphs from an article in Guardian Australia, from the Australian Book Review sets the scene for the book and what follows, written by Declan Fry, on 1/10/2021  –
“When musician Liz Phair sang her 1991 song, Fuck and Run, I couldn’t help wondering at the irony of her choral lament – “Fuck and run, fuck and run / even when I was 12” – lyrics that claimed something akin to agency in a situation which, read a certain way, could be considered exploitative. In doing so, it becomes a form of self-protection: I did it so you didn’t.  Bodies of Light, Jennifer Down’s second novel, is a meditation on what it means to experience this vulnerability. Its narrator, Maggie Sullivan, is institutionalised, caught up in a world of “foster families, group homes and resi units”, of “scheduled mealtimes bathtimes playtimes sleeptimes and joints laced with speed and grilles on windows”. Her father is a drug addict, jailed after injecting and killing one of his friends while Maggie is young; her mother is dead by the time she is two, OD’ing in a public toilet. At the age of 4 she is molested; at the age of 11, she is molested again.    Maggie’s voice has the verisimilitude of memoir. When she recalls “showers in the dark and lithium and coppers exploring my arsehole with a five-cent coin and sucking lolly snakes to get the taste of cock out of my mouth”, we credit her bitterly nonchalant sense of shock. Maggie is a person who has learned to be guarded and become adept at making herself as small as possible: “Picture me in that summer slick, newly fifteen and in search of a hollow to fall through.” By the age of 19 she has entered a psych ward (“clinical depression, catatonia, psychosis”); in her 20s, she experiences postnatal depression. We follow her into adulthood and late middle-age, witnessing incidents which will, quite literally, transform her life….”

I have used part of an article from the Sydney Morning Herald [Giselle Au-Nhein Nguyen, Oct 22, 2021] to provide a more concise description of the book, which may either encourage or discourage future readers. In the first part of the book, I was not sure that I was going to want to continue reading, so raw and ‘unpleasant almost’ was the way the story was developing. But despite that feeling, it became difficult to put down, and was read over two or three days.   The reviewer writes as follows:

“Bodies of Light is many things at once: a crime novel, a mystery novel, an epic, a testimony. The third book from Jennifer Down is staggering in its scope, encompassing half a century of life lived by its magnetic and mystifying central character, Maggie Sullivan – or Josephine, or Holly, depending on who you’re asking.

The year is 2018 when the Facebook message arrives: “Wondering if you are any relation of Maggie Sullivan (Aussie), she went missing a long time ago.” The sender has seen a viral image, and is struck by how much the woman known as Holly – at this stage living a simple life in the US – looks like someone he lived in foster care with as a child. Panicked, Maggie deletes the message and blocks the sender – and begins, privately, to excavate the life she has deliberately buried.

From the Victorian suburbs and shorelines to Sydney, to New Zealand to the US, the story that follows is a sweeping, breathless saga that charts a life that could be two, or three, or more. Maggie’s life is undoubtedly tragic, beginning with her removal from her family at the age of five and years moving from home to home, frequently enduring horrific abuse at the hands of her guardians.

Down drew inspiration from first-person accounts by residential and out-of-home care leavers to bring this part of the story to life in a realistic way. She does not shy away from the grim realities and failings of the system, or the ways in which girls and women are routinely used and discarded by society, shown through Maggie’s transient, often transactional relationships.

Maggie is a perplexing character, equal parts lucid and foggy. The book shines in the middle section, in which a police investigation takes place regarding a crime that she may or may not have committed. Here, Maggie’s occasional role as an unreliable narrator emerges. Down expertly plays intimate scenes depicting the character’s actions and thoughts against police interview transcripts, and the reader is left with little clarity as to what actually happened.

There are also moments when Maggie herself is unsure whether she has blacked out and forgotten something; after this, the character’s first vanishing act occurs. It’s incredibly clever writing that fortifies Down’s point about the fallibility of trauma-impacted memory – the novel is Maggie’s testament to herself, her mind the only proof she has of her existence at all, yet there are still gaps that cannot be filled, even by herself.

What’s remarkable about the novel is the way in which Down balances this darkness with small moments of beauty, rendering Maggie’s complex, harrowing life with grace, humanity and hope. One particularly memorable scene sees Maggie and her first husband observing the brilliance of bioluminescence at Phillip Island in the dead of night, lending a brief moment of awe and magic to their relationship, dying under the weight of grief’.

Finally, another pair of little booklets, written and produced by Ballarat historical writer, Doug Bradby

[1]:  ‘The Astonishing History of Ballarat’ Vol. 2 [1856-1883] by Doug Bradby, pub.2019, 256 pages.

Interesting as always, particularly the references to so many sites around Ballarat –  though I did this edition a little over-whelming in respect to the volume of mining and other statistics, much of which because of the detailed involved floated over my head!  However, from the back cover – ‘A crucial time in Ballarat’s mining history, 1856 was the year the miners first went ‘below the blue rock’ into the deep leads of Ballarat West. Redan and Sebastopol. There they would find and extract about five million ounces of gold. This incredible achievement took twenty years and would completely transform Ballarat’.

And from Collins Booksellers, Ballarat  –  ‘It was the men who first went below the blue rock who made the reputation of Ballarat. ”We have shallow sinking, deep sinking, ground sluicing and quartz mining, and we had to learn everything. All this has been taught us by the pick and shovel of the miner. There have been none to help us, and the knowledge we have has been slowly gained and dearly paid for.’ ‘The miners of Ballarat, have, in a few years, changed a wilderness into a great and important centre of wealth and progress.’ It is a wonderful story, worth knowing, worth understanding, and worthy of reflection. The second book in a trilogy exploring Ballarat’s astonishing history.

Written by Doug Bradby. Illustrated by Carson Ellis.

[2]  ‘Unsung Heroes: Ballarat’s Bravest Citizens, introduced by Doug Bradby [from the ‘Ten Delightful Tales’ series, published 2022, 32 pages –   another short but interesting series of snippets and stories from the early days of life in the Ballart gold fields and beyond Couldn’t find any reviews of this, but  most of the ‘stories’ covered involved mine accidents, together with  various drowning and water occurrences.