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'A beguiling and utterly original debut novel about two women born centuries apart but joined by the spirit of adventure and a quest for true love.
Catherine is a hula-hooping performance artist, a talented and independent individual plying her trade on the international burlesque stage. Each year she tours the European festival circuit, delighting her audiences and honing her skills. But behind the glittering and bohemian facade, Catherine knows that security is hard won and that true love is elusive. As she nears the middle of her life - admired but impoverished - she begins to question the nature of her vocation and the sacrifices women must make in order to succeed.
Columbina meanwhile is a feisty female clown and a principal in a 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte troupe. Commissioned to perform for the King of France, the troupe makes their way across a Europe held back by centuries of inequality and rocked by religious wars. As they near the city of Lyon, they are attacked by hooligans, only to be rescued by a group of marauding Huguenots with their own agenda... Using all their ingenuity, the troupe must hatch a daring escape plan if they have any hope of survival, let alone reaching France.
As Catherine and Columbina struggle to make sense of an increasingly nonsensical world - and to assert their rights as performers and women during times of profound change - their lives, as if by magic, seem to interact.' (From the publisher's website.)
Notes
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Dedication: To everyone who ever put money in my hat.
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Epigraph: Metaxis: the state of belonging completely and simultaneously to two different, autonomous worlds: the image of reality and the reality of the image. Augusto Boal
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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The Year's Work in Fiction: 2009-2010
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , July vol. 55 no. 1 2010; (p. 119-139)
— Review of Fear Factor : Terror Incognito 2009 anthology short story extract ; A True History of the Hula Hoop 2009 single work novel ; The World Beneath 2009 single work novel ; The Paperbark Shoe 2009 single work novel ; Swimming : A Novel 2004 single work novel ; The Bath Fugues 2009 selected work novella ; The Lost Life 2009 single work novel ; Rainforest Narratives : The Work of Janette Turner Hospital 2009 single work criticism ; Brian Castro's Fiction : The Seductive Play of Language 2008 multi chapter work criticism ; Legacy 2009 single work novel ; The Nature of Ice 2009 single work novel ; Lovesong 2009 single work novel ; Wonders of a Godless World 2009 single work novel ; Smoke in the Room 2009 single work novel ; The Australian Long Story 2009 anthology short story prose novella autobiography ; Every Secret Thing 2008 selected work short story ; Arrhythmia : Stories of Desire 2009 selected work short story ; The China Garden 2009 single work novel ; Barley Patch 2009 single work novel ; Tom Hurstbourne, or, A Squatter's Life 2010 single work novel ; Truth 2009 single work novel ; The Window Seat and Other Stories 2009 selected work short story ; Headlong : A Novel 2009 single work novel ; The Legacy 2010 single work novel -
Hula Hoop Artist Spins a Fine Yarn
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 26-27 September 2009; (p. 29)
— Review of A True History of the Hula Hoop 2009 single work novel -
Off the Shelf : Fiction
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 12 September 2009; (p. 28)
— Review of A True History of the Hula Hoop 2009 single work novel -
'Walking Is the Problem. Luckily Hula-Hooping Is Fine'
2009
single work
biography
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 5-6 September 2009; (p. 4-5)
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Off the Shelf : Fiction
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 12 September 2009; (p. 28)
— Review of A True History of the Hula Hoop 2009 single work novel -
Hula Hoop Artist Spins a Fine Yarn
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 26-27 September 2009; (p. 29)
— Review of A True History of the Hula Hoop 2009 single work novel -
The Year's Work in Fiction: 2009-2010
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , July vol. 55 no. 1 2010; (p. 119-139)
— Review of Fear Factor : Terror Incognito 2009 anthology short story extract ; A True History of the Hula Hoop 2009 single work novel ; The World Beneath 2009 single work novel ; The Paperbark Shoe 2009 single work novel ; Swimming : A Novel 2004 single work novel ; The Bath Fugues 2009 selected work novella ; The Lost Life 2009 single work novel ; Rainforest Narratives : The Work of Janette Turner Hospital 2009 single work criticism ; Brian Castro's Fiction : The Seductive Play of Language 2008 multi chapter work criticism ; Legacy 2009 single work novel ; The Nature of Ice 2009 single work novel ; Lovesong 2009 single work novel ; Wonders of a Godless World 2009 single work novel ; Smoke in the Room 2009 single work novel ; The Australian Long Story 2009 anthology short story prose novella autobiography ; Every Secret Thing 2008 selected work short story ; Arrhythmia : Stories of Desire 2009 selected work short story ; The China Garden 2009 single work novel ; Barley Patch 2009 single work novel ; Tom Hurstbourne, or, A Squatter's Life 2010 single work novel ; Truth 2009 single work novel ; The Window Seat and Other Stories 2009 selected work short story ; Headlong : A Novel 2009 single work novel ; The Legacy 2010 single work novel -
'Walking Is the Problem. Luckily Hula-Hooping Is Fine'
2009
single work
biography
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 5-6 September 2009; (p. 4-5)
Awards
- 2010 highly commended Kibble Literary Awards — Nita May Dobbie Award
- 2010 highly commended Barbara Jefferis Award
- Europe,