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Kristel Thornell Kristel Thornell i(A104462 works by)
Born: Established: 1975 Sydney, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Female
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Works By

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1 y separately published work icon The Sirens Sing Kristel Thornell , Sydney : Fourth Estate , 2022 24803145 2022 single work novel

'A beautiful novel from multi-award-winning writer Kristel Thornell, The Sirens Sing is about the haunting force of love and desire that ricochets between lives, across generations and through time. It is a portrait of Australian longing.

'The Blue Mountains, mid-1990s. Heather and David are two young people on the brink of adulthood, drawn together by their study of Italian. David is smitten with Heather, but has no idea how she feels about him. Besides Italian in common, they are both children of struggling single mothers, who raised them in the grungy Inner West of Sydney - share houses, a squat, a Housing Commission flat - before moving to Blackheath. At a festive evening to celebrate Heather's final high-school exam, events take a course that will profoundly change the lives of everyone present.

'Sydney, mid-1970s. Jan, the unconfident daughter of working-class parents and the first in her family to go to university, strikes up a friendship with bohemian, assured Alicia. They quickly become close. But one night down by Blackwattle Bay - the night of Gough Whitlam's dismissal - things go awry.

'A tender and poignant novel from award-winning writer Kristel Thornell, The Sirens Sing is a portrait of Australian longing. It explores desire, how it haunts and shapes us, and how, from generation to generation, there are echoes, overlaps and intersections in how we love, who we love, and why we love, as we are compelled to repeat the same patterns over and over again, like moths to a flame.' (Publication summary)

2 5 y separately published work icon On the Blue Train Kristel Thornell , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2016 10195780 2016 single work novel historical fiction

'What did happen to Agatha Christie during her mysterious eleven-day disappearance just as she was on the cusp of fame? Mixing fact and fantasy, an entrancing novel of creativity and grief.

'From the winner of the Dobbie Literary Award, the Barbara Ramsden Award and the Andrew Eiseman Award.

'Yes, she said, finally. Breaks are important. There are times when it's wiser to get away. From it all.

'It was the work of a moment: On 4 December 1926, Agatha Christie became Teresa Neele, resident of the spa hotel, the Harrogate Hydro. With her wedding ring left behind, and her minimal belongings unpacked, the lost days begin.

'Lying to her fellow guests about the death of a husband and child, Teresa settles in to the anonymity she so fiercely desires. Until Harry McKenna, bruised from the end of his own marriage, asks her to dance.

'In this entrancing novel of creativity and grief, Kristel Thornell combines fact and fantasy to reconstruct Agatha Christie's retreat from a life that had become too difficult. With verve and sensitivity, Thornell imagines what Christie could not write.' (Publication summary)

1 The Ritual of Vintage Kristel Thornell , 2011 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Meanjin , [Autumn] vol. 70 no. 1 2011; (p. 112-118)
1 Inside the Australian Vogel Literary Award Kristel Thornell , Cate Kennedy , 2010 single work interview
— Appears in: Newswrite : The NSW Writers' Centre Magazine , June/July no. 191 2010; (p. 6-7)
Kristel Thornell interviews Cate Kennedy about the judging process for the Australian / Vogel National Literary Award (for an unpublished manuscript). In turn, Kennedy interviews Thornell about her entry in the 2009 Vogel award.
1 Award Winners Probe the Past : Night Street : Kristel Thornell Kristel Thornell , 2009 extract novel historical fiction (Night Street)
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 19-20 September 2009; (p. 24)
1 19 y separately published work icon Night Street Kristel Thornell , 2009 Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2010 Z1624125 2009 single work novel historical fiction

'Night Street is the passionate story of a young painter, Clarice Beckett, who defies society's strict conventions and indifferent art critics alike and leads an intense private and professional life. With her extraordinary talent for making simple city and seascapes haunting and mysteriously revelatory, Clarice paints prolifically and lives largely, overcoming the seemingly confined existence as the spinster daughter in the parental home.

Night Street began with Thornell's first encounter with the paintings of Melbourne artist Clarice Beckett (1887-1935) at the Art Gallery of South Australia. The subtle power of Clarice's highly atmospheric, enigmatic landscapes enabled her to imagine Clarice's inner life and shape an extraordinary novel.' (Publisher's blurb)

1 Leading Man Kristel Thornell , 2009 single work short story
— Appears in: Meanjin , Winter vol. 68 no. 2 2009; (p. 169-182)
1 Cabin Fever Kristel Thornell , 2009 single work short story
— Appears in: Overland , Winter no. 195 2009; (p. 86-93)
1 Miramare Park Kristel Thornell , 2008 single work short story
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 68 no. 1 2008; (p. 74-90)
1 Dreaming of Houses i "Houses of the past - one, especially, nestled", Kristel Thornell , 2008 single work poetry
— Appears in: Overland , Autumn no. 190 2008; (p. 77)
1 Rainy Season i "Sheathed in a slim,", Kristel Thornell , 2008 single work poetry
— Appears in: Island , Autumn no. 112 2008; (p. 86)
1 Most Special Day Ever Kristel Thornell , 2007 single work prose
— Appears in: Wet Ink , Autumn no. 6 2007; (p. 43)
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