AustLit
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Poets had always lived there, the locals claimed. It was as if the house called to its own...
When Sadie inherits Poet's Cottage in the Tasmanian fishing town of Pencubitt, she sets out to discover all she can about her notorious grandmother, Pearl Tatlow. Pearl was a children's writer who scandalised 1930s Tasmania with her behaviour. She was also violently murdered in the cellar of Poet's Cottage and her murderer never found.
Sadie grew up with a loving version of Pearl through her mother, but her aunt Thomasina tells a different story, one of a self-obsessed, abusive and licentious woman. And Pearl's biographer, Birdie Pinkerton, has more than enough reason to discredit her.
As Sadie and her daughter Betty work to uncover the truth, strange events begin to occur in the cottage. And as the terrible secret in the cellar threads its way into the present day, it reveals a truth more shocking than the decades-long rumours.
Poet's Cottage is a beautiful and haunting mystery of families, bohemia, truth, creativity, lies, memory and murder.' (Publisher's blurb)
When Sadie inherits Poet's Cottage in the Tasmanian fishing town of Pencubitt, she sets out to discover all she can about her notorious grandmother, Pearl Tatlow. Pearl was a children's writer who scandalised 1930s Tasmania with her behaviour. She was also violently murdered in the cellar of Poet's Cottage and her murderer never found.
Sadie grew up with a loving version of Pearl through her mother, but her aunt Thomasina tells a different story, one of a self-obsessed, abusive and licentious woman. And Pearl's biographer, Birdie Pinkerton, has more than enough reason to discredit her.
As Sadie and her daughter Betty work to uncover the truth, strange events begin to occur in the cottage. And as the terrible secret in the cellar threads its way into the present day, it reveals a truth more shocking than the decades-long rumours.
Poet's Cottage is a beautiful and haunting mystery of families, bohemia, truth, creativity, lies, memory and murder.' (Publisher's blurb)
Notes
-
Dedication:
For Mum and Dad
And my daughter Daisy Pennicott Levell,
who carries our story forward -
Epigraph: I entreat you (however trite the words may be) to think that life is not empty nor made for nothing, and that the parts of it fit one into another in some way; and that the world goes on, beautiful and strange and dreadful and worshipful.
-William Morris
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Book Review – Poet’s Cottage by Josephine Pennicott
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: Booklover Book Reviews 2013;
— Review of Poet's Cottage 2012 single work novel -
Getting Cosy with Tasmania
2012
single work
interview
— Appears in: Writing Queensland , May no. 218 2012; (p. 4-5) 'Josephine Pennicott is the author of dark fantasy trilogy Circle of Nine. Another manuscript, the historical fantasy The Witches of Paris, was treading water, but then inspiration struck on a visit to Tasmania, and the resulting murder mystery, Poet's Cottage, has recently been published by Pan Macmillan. Josephine told WQ about the change of direction and how a real location has influenced her latest novel.'
-
Romantic Abode Inspires Mystery
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 14 - 15 April 2012; (p. 20)
— Review of Poet's Cottage 2012 single work novel -
A House with a Tale to Tell
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 18 March 2012; (p. 6)
-
Romantic Abode Inspires Mystery
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 14 - 15 April 2012; (p. 20)
— Review of Poet's Cottage 2012 single work novel -
Book Review – Poet’s Cottage by Josephine Pennicott
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: Booklover Book Reviews 2013;
— Review of Poet's Cottage 2012 single work novel -
A House with a Tale to Tell
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 18 March 2012; (p. 6) -
Getting Cosy with Tasmania
2012
single work
interview
— Appears in: Writing Queensland , May no. 218 2012; (p. 4-5) 'Josephine Pennicott is the author of dark fantasy trilogy Circle of Nine. Another manuscript, the historical fantasy The Witches of Paris, was treading water, but then inspiration struck on a visit to Tasmania, and the resulting murder mystery, Poet's Cottage, has recently been published by Pan Macmillan. Josephine told WQ about the change of direction and how a real location has influenced her latest novel.'
Awards
- 2013 shortlisted Davitt Award — Best Adult Crime Novel
Last amended 22 Sep 2021 10:34:34
Settings:
- Tasmania,
Export this record
