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y separately published work icon The Mothers single work   novel   historical fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 2015... 2015 The Mothers
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'That’s what life is about, at the bottom of things, she thought: women keeping babies.

'In 1917, while the world is at war, Alma and her children are living in a sleep-out at the back of Mrs Lovett’s house in working-class Footscray. When Alma falls pregnant, her daughter Molly is born in secret. As Molly grows up, there is a man who sometimes follows her on her way to school.

'Anna meets Neil in 1952 at her parents’ shack at Cockatoo. She later enters a Salvation Army home for unmarried mothers, but is determined to keep her baby.

'Fitzroy, 1975. Student life. Things are different now, aren’t they? Cathy and David are living together, determined not to get married. Against the background of the tumultuous events of the sacking of the Whitlam government, a new chapter is added to the family’s story.

'The Mothers is a book about secrets. It interweaves the intimate lives of three generations of Australian women who learn that it’s the stories we can’t tell that continue to shape us and make us who we are.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Dedication: To Maria
  • Epigraph:

    What makes you read the contours of your body

    like lines on the palm of a hand

    so that I cannot see them otherwise than Fate?

    RAINER MARIA RILKE

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Text Publishing , 2015 .
      image of person or book cover 5442931609945642195.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 334p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 27 May 2015
      ISBN: 9781922147226

Other Formats

  • Sound recording.
  • Braille.

Works about this Work

Review : The Mothers Lauren Cook , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Good Reading , July 2015; (p. 39)

— Review of The Mothers Rod Jones , 2015 single work novel
[Review] The Mothers Robyn Douglass , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 4 July 2015; (p. 32)

— Review of The Mothers Rod Jones , 2015 single work novel
Single Mum's Disgrace Is Repeated Over Decades Andrew Fuhrmann , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 20 June 2015; (p. 25)

— Review of The Mothers Rod Jones , 2015 single work novel
Rod Jones Jane Sullivan , 2015 single work interview
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 30-31 May 2015; (p. 30-31) The Canberra Times , 30 May 2015; (p. 13) The Age , 30 May 2015; (p. 24)
'The author’s previous novels were concerned with ideas, but his latest is an emotional self-portrait and a secret history of 20th-century Melbourne.'
Rod Jones, The Mothers SH , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 23 May 2015;

— Review of The Mothers Rod Jones , 2015 single work novel
Review : The Mothers Joanne Shiells , 2015 single work
— Appears in: Books + Publishing , vol. 94 no. 4 2015; (p. 21)

— Review of The Mothers Rod Jones , 2015 single work novel
Rod Jones, The Mothers SH , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 23 May 2015;

— Review of The Mothers Rod Jones , 2015 single work novel
Single Mum's Disgrace Is Repeated Over Decades Andrew Fuhrmann , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 20 June 2015; (p. 25)

— Review of The Mothers Rod Jones , 2015 single work novel
[Review] The Mothers Robyn Douglass , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 4 July 2015; (p. 32)

— Review of The Mothers Rod Jones , 2015 single work novel
Review : The Mothers Lauren Cook , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Good Reading , July 2015; (p. 39)

— Review of The Mothers Rod Jones , 2015 single work novel
Rod Jones Jane Sullivan , 2015 single work interview
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 30-31 May 2015; (p. 30-31) The Canberra Times , 30 May 2015; (p. 13) The Age , 30 May 2015; (p. 24)
'The author’s previous novels were concerned with ideas, but his latest is an emotional self-portrait and a secret history of 20th-century Melbourne.'
Last amended 2 Oct 2020 13:46:15
Settings:
  • Footscray, Footscray - Maribyrnong area, Melbourne - West, Melbourne, Victoria,
  • Cockatoo, Silvan - Monbulk - Gembrook area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,
  • Fitzroy, Fitzroy - Collingwood area, Melbourne - North, Melbourne, Victoria,
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