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y separately published work icon A Story Dreamt Long Ago : A Memoir single work   biography  
Issue Details: First known date: 2003... 2003 A Story Dreamt Long Ago : A Memoir
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Whispered voices in the hallways of her childhood. A hastily packed suitcase. A masked ball that ends early. A mother who will not reveal her past. A daughter's search for the truth...When Bettina Mendl arrived in Australia in 1939 from Vienna she was on the run. In her homeland of Austria she was wanted by Hitler's SS, and in Australia she was an enemy alien. Fearing internment, she had to become invisible so she literally went bush-to the red dust of the Australian outback.There Bettina met and fell in love with Joe McDuff, station manager and salt-of-the-earth bushman. After Joe rescued Bettina from certain death from a spider bite and exposure, romance bloomed and they settled into a loving marriage and life in the bush. Their two young daughters, Phyllis and Dawn, grew up completely unspoilt and blissfully aware of their mother's aristocratic past. When the Second World War finally came to an end, Bettina was called back to Austria to try to reclaim what remained of her vast estate and family lands. While Bettina and Joe had a wonderful life, they wanted to secure their daughters' futures. Unable to bear an extended separation from her family, Bettina packed up Joe and the girls and took them to Austria for the first time. Thus began a fairytale whirlwind of exotic travel, beautiful clothes, mansions and five-star hotels, glamorous parties, famous faces and luxury for the McDuffs-especially for Phyllis and Dawn, who were used to going barefoot and had no awareness of the extent of their mother's vast family fortune. Bettina's life before the war had always been a mystery to her children, and she refused to talk about it as they grew up. But as her life drew to a close, her eldest daughter Phyllis began a quest to uncover the truth. From the unravelling of a secret coded message to a connection with Picasso and a British spy, A Story Dreamt Long Ago follows Phyllis's astonishing journey of discovery, a journey which revealed Bettina's hidden past and her untold courage. (Source: Angus & Robertson Bookworld website)

Notes

  • Dedication: To Bettina and to Otto; To Fritz, Lucie and Marianne, To their forebears and their families - in whatever country of the world their spitits roam.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Milsons Point, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Bantam Australia , 2003 .
      image of person or book cover 618231075932466586.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: xvii, 282p., [16]p. of platesp.
      Description: illus., ports.
      Note/s:
      • Also German language publication
      ISBN: 1863254005
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Reader's Digest Encounters : Real Life Reading Sydney : Reader's Digest , 2007 Z1629856 2007 anthology biography Sydney : Reader's Digest , 2007 pg. 146-294
    Note: Condensed version. Includes photograph and biography. Does not include dedication.

Works about this Work

A Story Written Long Ago Finds a New Home 2016 single work column
— Appears in: Our Logan , September vol. 52 no. 2016; (p. 11)
'Thirteen years after she published her memoir of her mother's wartime journey from Austria to Australia, Crestmead author Phyllis McDuff is making headlines again. ...'
Untitled Deborah Stone , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Jewish News , June 10 vol. 71 no. 38 2005; (p. 22)

— Review of A Story Dreamt Long Ago : A Memoir Phyllis McDuff , 2003 single work biography
The Shortlist Chloe Wilson , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Eureka Street , April vol. 14 no. 3 2004; (p. 47)

— Review of A Story Dreamt Long Ago : A Memoir Phyllis McDuff , 2003 single work biography
Entering the Maze Richard Johnstone , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 259 2004; (p. 56-57)

— Review of A Story Dreamt Long Ago : A Memoir Phyllis McDuff , 2003 single work biography ; The Boy in the Boat Brian O'Raleigh , 2003 single work autobiography
Evil Hiding Behind Self-Righteous Indignation Ian McFarlane , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 24 January 2004; (p. 5a)

— Review of Prisoners of the East Allana Arnot , 2004 single work biography ; A Story Dreamt Long Ago : A Memoir Phyllis McDuff , 2003 single work biography
In Short : Non-Fiction Bruce Elder , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 17-18 January 2004; (p. 17)

— Review of When the Bough Breaks : The True Story of Child Killer Kathleen Folbigg Matthew Benns , 2003 single work biography ; A Story Dreamt Long Ago : A Memoir Phyllis McDuff , 2003 single work biography
Evil Hiding Behind Self-Righteous Indignation Ian McFarlane , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 24 January 2004; (p. 5a)

— Review of Prisoners of the East Allana Arnot , 2004 single work biography ; A Story Dreamt Long Ago : A Memoir Phyllis McDuff , 2003 single work biography
Entering the Maze Richard Johnstone , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 259 2004; (p. 56-57)

— Review of A Story Dreamt Long Ago : A Memoir Phyllis McDuff , 2003 single work biography ; The Boy in the Boat Brian O'Raleigh , 2003 single work autobiography
The Shortlist Chloe Wilson , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Eureka Street , April vol. 14 no. 3 2004; (p. 47)

— Review of A Story Dreamt Long Ago : A Memoir Phyllis McDuff , 2003 single work biography
Untitled Deborah Stone , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Jewish News , June 10 vol. 71 no. 38 2005; (p. 22)

— Review of A Story Dreamt Long Ago : A Memoir Phyllis McDuff , 2003 single work biography
A Story Written Long Ago Finds a New Home 2016 single work column
— Appears in: Our Logan , September vol. 52 no. 2016; (p. 11)
'Thirteen years after she published her memoir of her mother's wartime journey from Austria to Australia, Crestmead author Phyllis McDuff is making headlines again. ...'
Last amended 13 Sep 2016 12:39:07
Subjects:
  • c
    Austria,
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
  • Hillston, Hillston area, Far West NSW, New South Wales,
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