AustLit

'The family secrets are only just beginning to unravel... 

'When her elderly mother is hospitalised after an accident, Vicki is summoned to her parents' isolated and run-down ranch home in Alberta, Canada, to care for her father. She has been estranged from her parents for many years (the reasons for which become quickly clear) and is horrified by what she discovers on her arrival.

'For years her mother has suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness but carefully hidden her delusions and unpredictable behaviour behind a carefully guarded mask, and has successfully isolated herself and her husband from all their friends. But once in hospital her mask begins to crack and her actions leave everyone baffled and confused ... and eventually scared for their lives.

'Meanwhile Vicki's father, who has been systematically starved and harruanged for years, and kept virtually a prisoner in his own home, begins to realise what has happened to him and embarks upon plans of his own to combat his wife.

'The ensuing power play between the two takes a dramatic turn and leaves Vicki stuck in the middle of a bizzare and ludicrously strange family dilemma. All this makes for an intensely gripping, yet black-humoured family drama which will leave you on the edge of your seat.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Peter Newlinds worked for ABC Radio Grandstand for 18 years through the 1990s and 2000s. His name and voice will be familiar to cricket followers around Australia, and also to the followers of many of the various sports the ABC has covered over the years. Peter provides a unique perspective on the life of the broadcaster as someone who may not have been one of the biggest names on radio but nevertheless was always there, someone whose voice was heard routinely on most days over summer as the cricket broadcast went 'around the grounds'.

'In Around the Grounds, Peter shares memories and insights that will fire sparks of nostalgia in Australian sporting enthusiasts. In this marvellous memoir, Peter recalls teenage years working inside the grand scoreboard of the SCG, to the pressure of auditioning for the ABC in front of a childhood hero, and then through a long career with the national broadcaster. It's the story of the sporting fan who manages to live out the ultimate sporting fantasy: working as a commentator with one of the world's great sporting broadcasters.

'Peter describes his numerous experiences with Grandstand covering everything from international cricket to air-pistol shooting on the outskirts of New Delhi. In doing so he provides the reader with numerous insights into life 'one step away' from the action, working with broadcasting legends and crossing paths with sporting greatness at regular intervals.

'After reading Around the Grounds, readers will never listen to radio sport coverage in quite the same way again.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Wil Patterson was your everyday working husband and father, trying to keep up with the latest car, house and toys for his family. Always one to make light of things, he nevertheless became increasingly desperate about how he was going to pay his bills. One day while at work at his insurance job, he came across a large cheque that was addressed to someone who shared his name. The temptation was too great and soon enough Wil found himself down at the bank. After swearing to himself, 'never again', it wasn't too long before a similar situation arose and Wil could not resist.

'Well, no crime goes unpunished and Wil was eventually caught and charged and, to his horror, sentenced to 3 years' prison time. Mr Ordinary Goes to Jail is Wil's account of his time in a contemporary Victorian prison, the unusual characters he met, the often hilarious and terrifying situations he found himself in, and the ways in which he comes to terms with his past and forges a new future.

'This is for anybody who has ever wondered, 'What is it really like inside?' or ever speculated how they might cope if they were in the same situation. It also details the reactions of Wil's family and friends and examines the steps Wil had to take to be accepted back into his family and society.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'For the last three years [my daughter], has been slowly dying. Although she is sixteen, she weighs as much as an eight-year-old. Her hormone levels are those of a post-menopausal woman. We have tried everything the medical system has to offer - psychologists, psychiatrists, family therapists, dieticians, drugs ... but nothing has worked. And now here we are, she and I, flying to the other side of the world in a last ditch effort to save her. Anorexia is a difficult thing to get people to understand. Usually they will look at me incredulously. Sometimes they will come right out and say what I know they are thinking: Why can't you just get her to eat? Anne Tonner, a high achieving human rights lawyer and mother of four, is used to facing battles and winning. But when her 13-year-old daughter Chloe stops eating and is diagnosed with anorexia, she is confronted with the mother of all enemies, one that is completely unfathomable and seemingly incurable. Anne and her family throw everything they have at helping Chloe face the 'demon' they name 'Cold Vein'. But some three years later Chloe is still ill and desperately close to death and the family is in tatters. Anne is in danger of not only losing her daughter but her whole family as well. In a last ditch effort they travel across the world to attend a clinic in Stockholm, knowing that this may be the only chance Chloe has to survive. Beautifully and engagingly written, Anne's depiction of the devastating effects of anorexia has not only for the person who has it, but those around them, is honest, tough and compelling. Ultimately uplifting, this story will shed light on one of the most insidious and dangerous mental conditions.' (Publication Summary)

'The true story of one man’s survival of abuse at the hands of a most dangerous type – priests without belief'

'James Miller grew up in Newcastle and attended St Pius X secondary College from 1978. A keen surfer and gifted academically, he soon drew the attentions of Principal Father Brennan and deputy Father Helferty. Aided by his deputy, Brennan wields his authority to find many occasions to see James alone and sexually abuse him, transforming James’s naturally sunny easy-going disposition into one wracked with self-loathing and shame.'

'Confused and bewildered by what is happening, James begins drinking and secretly self-harming. The influence of the Catholic Church and Father Brennan within the local community is such that James is unable to escape him, even after a decade in Sydney where his marriage crumbled. His wife and young daughter moved back to Newcastle and James followed. His final plan to help himself is to become so successful that he can move away from Newcastle and out of the clutches of the predatory men. He joins prestigious chambers in Sydney as a barrister. However, his internal life is a wreck. Terrified that someone will find out his secret shame, he develops a deep-seated paranoia and a serious substance abuse problem.'

'Out of the blue he is asked to make a statement in criminal proceedings against a serial paedophile priest who was protected by Father Brennan, at St Pius X. Horrified, James knows that if he appears at the trial, he would be forced to reveal what happened to him. To make matter worse, he is then contacted by Brennan himself, who demands James’s help in his own defence of related charges. Faced with this dilemma, James had a breakdown, eventually losing his job and becomes homeless, before finding the internal fortitude to resurrect himself and his life. In 2015 he began a lawsuit against the Newcastle-Maitland Diocese.' (Source: Finch Publishing website)

'The Grass Was Always Browner is a memoir of growing up and away from an eccentric family in a regular Sydney suburban backyard, travelling all the way to the Outback and on to London wearing pink pointe ballet shoes. Girls born in suburban Sydney in the 70s were rarely called Sacha. Particularly girls destined to be ballet dancers. Overcoming her real, ordinary-as, insufficiently Russian name was the first of many trials Sacha had to endure growing up, including the wearing of No Frills brown socks, white frizzy hair and a flat-as-a-pancake chest. Probably the most valuable trial was learning that suppositories can make you vomit and aren't a reliable cure for asthma, something that Sacha in turn had to teach the local doctors. And just as well, because without that valuable lesson the doctors would never have put their heads together to come up with an alternative treatment that involved neither suppositories nor vomit. Instead Sacha got to learn ballet, learning to pull up and turn out, and from there, life itself began to pull up. Taking to ballet despite a build that was all wrong, thanks to ill-advised addictions to Nestle's pink milk and sugar laden home-made lemonade, Sacha goes on to become something of a dancing star and no-one is more surprised than her teacher, the legendary Mrs P - an actual Russian. But there's a dark side to success for Sacha and more lessons must be learned on and off the stage, including that the greenroom of the Sydney Opera House is not actually green ...All this unlikely learning makes The Grass was Always Browner a romp of a memoir and a cautionary tale of the be-careful-what-you-wish-for variety.' (Publication summary)

'A conservative Catholic family in Queensland in 1974 is no place to be a pregnant teenager. With an authoritarian mother and facing enormous societal pressures, Mary must make a decision to save her future … but it is one that will haunt her for the rest of her life.

'After putting her baby son up for adoption, Mary tries to return to her old life and her studies to be a nurse but finds that she cannot escape thoughts of her son or feelings of guilt. The situation is made worse because her mother and family completely ignore what has happened to her; she cannot talk to anyone about how she feels. Even after travelling throughout remote Australia as a nurse and health advisor, and marrying and having two daughters, she feels incomplete and restless.

'Then the adoption laws regarding contact between birth mothers and their children are changed. She decides that the time might be right to find out if her son wants to meet her. But nothing is ever as simple as it seems and the quest to become a part of her son’s life, turns Mary’s life and world upside down all over again. ' (Publication summary)

'What happens when a very strict principal of a state high school has to deal with one of the most troublesome students he has ever had... his own son? When the two unexpectedly find a common interest, the change to their relationship alters significantly. Both learn the hard way that the best education in life can be found outside the school system.' (Publisher's description)

'All the Days After is a personal and revealing account of how it feels to be one of the many affected by a major natural disaster. 'It was still hot. The soft drink cans would have to be cooled before Barry could open them. I wished I had brought some ice in a little Esky to keep them cool. Still, I had not realised it would all take this long. And I had brought the drinks. I fleetingly wondered if I should have bought some food for Barry as well. But no, the women's auxiliary would probably have plied him with scones and sandwiches at the evacuation centre. Barry always liked scones. He used to buy two plain scones at the Whittlesea bakery on his way to work some mornings. I felt sure he would just be desperately in need of a soft drink after being forced to drink tea for so many hours; food would not be a problem. Up ahead of me I saw the police officer get out of his car.' Local teacher Sue Gunningham waits impatiently in her car for news of her long-time partner Barry Johnston, who has been declared missing in the savage bushfires that would come to be known as the 'Black Saturday' fires.

'She worked that morning, Saturday 7 February 2009, and so was not at home at their cottage 'Waldene' near Kinglake when the bushfire swept through. Little does she realise that the loss of her partner is just the beginning of her battle to keep a place for her in his life ...and to save the memory of their love. The book is divided into four sections: 'Lost' (the frantic search for Barry in the days after the fire); 'Stolen' (dealing with the Coroner's identification process, solicitors and the funeral parlor in a struggle to have Barry's remains identified and returned to Sue); 'Examined' (the continual round of formal interviews with police, case managers, psychologists and the Victoria Bushfire Royal Commission); and 'Rebuild' (dealing with the burnt-out site and trying to rebuild both the cottage and a life). Raw and compelling, All the Days After will resonate with anyone who has suffered through devastating grief.

It is Sue's personal story of love lost, grief and rebuilding, but it is also the story of the lesser known aftermath of a major tragedy; one involving family disputes, inquests, a Royal Commission and more, and how events play out when you're involved on the inside as opposed to being a remote spectator.' (Publication summary)

'A world-weary musician and a broken racehorse rescue each other in this inspirational memoir about second chances. At 56 years of age, Gillian Wills bought her first horse on a whim. Elvis was emaciated, scarred, unruly, saddle-phobic and imbued with attitude. However, she sensed in him the remnants of a fierce pride that resonated with her own almost-lost sense of self-worth, depleted after leaving a high status job as head of a prestigious music conservatorium in Melbourne to move across the country with her partner to Queensland. Owning a horse pushed the need for paddocks to the top of Gillian's wish list. Since her artist partner also craved land on which to build a studio, they bought a dilapidated weatherboard farmhouse on 2.5 acres and swapped city living in Brisbane for the pleasures of semi-rural Ransome. Gillian gave up her lecturing position, weekly spot on radio, and an array of exhausting consultancies to focus on freelance writing. For a year she wore mud-stained boots and dusty jeans by day and shiny heels and black cocktail gear at night to mingle with the art cogniscenti at functions, give pre-concert talks for the Australian Chamber Orchestra and review concerts for the Australian newspaper. And she tried to ride Elvis. Elvis had been pitched to Gillian as a quiet, beginner's 'I'll-do-whatever-you-want-kind-of-horse' that could hardly summon up the energy to trot. the truth was very different. Rehabilitating Elvis through natural horsemanship methods (horse whispering) with the help of a laconic yet seriously gifted trainer introduced Gillian to a whole new world where music was incidental and daily discussions centred on the weather, how to tell good grass from bad, and fear of the Hendra virus. She persevered with her riding lessons, ignoring the often not-so-subtle doubts that she would ever learn to ride competently, let alone be able to control a spirited mount like Elvis. Gradually Elvis' behaviour improved and Gillian's confidence grew. Learning to assert her leadership over Elvis' daily rehabilitation program slowly but surely transformed her world. Gillian says, 'I was supposed to help Elvis, but instead he led me on an unexpected trail of self-discovery. I learned to like myself. I realised I didn't have to prove to the world I was worthy, be defined by a profession, or prove that I could achieve an impossible goal. I began to stand up for myself with my partner, employers, children, friends ... and with Elvis, of course!'' (Publication summary)

'This is not a travel guide. This is a story about travelling around Australia trying to avoid strangulation by strangers while attempting amateur burglary. No, really. It is.

'John Card was a high-school science teacher with a good job and promising prospects. However, he was also burned out, bored out of his mind and lacking real direction in his life. Like most people at some point, he dreamed of packing it all in and running away from home. However, unlike most people, he actually did. After asking his mum to help him pack his backpack that is…

'This is one man’s very funny account of his time hitchhiking 15000 kilometres around Australia in search of adventure and new way of thinking about life. Along the way he encounters nude walkers, has abuse hurled at him from passing cars, is introduced to the thrills of riding on the roof of a ute at 120km an hour, drinks a lot of beer, eats a lot of bananas (going cheap in QLD), sees a lot of road signs and antagonises a lot of people. He also discovers that the enormous generosity of ordinary Australians, and reignites his own passion and meaning for life.' (Publication summary)

'Spinifex Baby is a beautifully written and evocative hymn to the Australian landscape and to the strength that lies within us all.

'I thought I knew how hard it would be. What I didn’t know was that it would test me to the inner core. This desert with its rolling dune fields is an unforgiving land that relentlessly destroys even its own ancient beauty. It is a place where, compared to the age of the landscape, a single life means less than a grain of sand. I could not have known that the biggest challenge I would face would not be from the piercing sun, not from the unforgiving dust, not even from the aching loneliness of isolation, but from the treachery of my own self.

'When Karen and her partner Al set forth from the cold mountains of Tasmania to the 45-plus degree heat of central Australia to transform a cattle station into a conservation reserve, they were ready to embrace the beauty of the land and throw themselves into the task of protecting native plants and animals. They thought they had all the skills necessary to beat the heat, the dust and their isolation from society. However, when Karen became unexpectedly pregnant, their lives were turned upside down. Suddenly their biggest danger was not their exposure to the harsh elements but to the deepest fears that resided within themselves…' (Publication summary)

'9/11 and the Art of Happiness by Simon Kennedy is a moving examination of survival and regrowth following a devastating tragedy. How do you forgive a terrorist for murder? How do you forgive anyone who commits a random act of deadly violence against a family member? How do you not give in to stereotypical racial and cultural responses against the offender and his community? And most importantly, how do you learn to be happy again?' (Publication abstract)

'Stories of Manhood – Journeys into the hidden hearts of men featuring Bill Bryson, Peter Carey, Elliot Perlman, Michael Leunig and others

'In this thought provoking and moving collection of stories, best-selling author Steve Biddulph brings together an eclectic range of stories of men’s experiences. Written with raw honesty, insight and humour, these stories reflect the often hidden, emotional depths of men as they face the ups and downs of life.' (Publication summary)

'Heath Lander’s debut book is an exciting and gritty exploration of his descent into the dangerous underbelly of Melbourne night life as a young university graduate. His prose captures the physicality of his journey from the first tentative steps into martial arts as a defence against low self-esteem to the camaraderie underpinning the bristling, barely contained violence of nightclub security.

'An unlikely candidate for the crowd control industry, Heath takes up Kung Fu as a university student, a decision that gives him entry into the dark and brutal world of nightclub security. His introduction is by way of his instructor, a part-time bouncer at a pub in Brunswick Street, Melbourne. Graduating from university, his ambition to teach and paint takes second place to his obsession with ‘making it’ in this new world. Without realising it, Heath slides into a dark place with no real friends and plenty of potential enemies. The more proficient Heath becomes at his job, the more he gains the respect of his bosses and clients. Then one night, after five years as a bouncer, the almost fatal punch he delivers to a belligerant drunk causes a crisis of conscience. He realises that his life has lost purpose and he quits his job, determined to ‘make it’ once again, this time in the world of daylight.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Green Vanilla Tea is a story of compassion and courage in the face of a deadly and little understood illness. Above all, it is a love story.

Marie Williams watches helplessly as an undiagnosable condition debilitates her husband, Dominic, in both body and mind. As the condition develops, the normally devoted family man and loving partner seems to disappear beneath an expressionless face and a relentless desire to walk and walk and walk at all hours of the day and night.

In a compelling story that spans both joy and sadness, Marie Williams writes about the bonds in her family, her sons’ love for their father, the spirit that sustains them all during the most testing of experiences and about the struggle they faced in dealing with the inexplicable.' (Publisher's blurb)

'My Life in a Pea Soup follows one mother's journey to reach her profoundly autistic daughter. Set against the backdrop of three countries - Sri Lanka, Bahrain and Australia - this book will appeal to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and then found a way to not only help themselves, but to help those dearest to them.

'The memoir chronicles Lisa's journey across many countries with her husband Michael and her daughter Sally. Lisa struggles to understand why her beautiful daughter does not act like other toddlers. Lisa and Michael experience cultural clashes and comical moments, all told through the lens of caring for a daughter who is different to the rest. Fighting for years to receive an official diagnosis for something they do not even have a name for, they are thrown headlong into a medicalised world they never knew existed.

'Baffled and bewildered, Lisa eventually embarks on a home-program for Sally that touches everyone in the family. Sally becomes much easier to manage while Lisa and her husband learn to navigate their way through the misty madness of the profoundly autistic world. By reaching Sally, they find the will and strength to help themselves. Their fogs lift and they discover the contentment and happiness that for so long had eluded them.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Catch up With the Sun is the unusual account of a remarkable achievement as ex-RAAF pilot and veterinarian Heidi Douglas writes about her journey through the outback of Australia with horses and camels.' (Publication summary)