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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Thea Farmer, a reclusive and difficult retired school principal, lives in isolation with her dog in the Blue Mountains. Her distinguished career ended under a cloud over a decade earlier, following a scandal involving a much younger male teacher. After losing her savings in the financial crash, she is forced to sell the dream house she had built for her old age and live on in her dilapidated cottage opposite.
'Initially resentful and hostile towards Frank and Ellice, the young couple who buy the new house, Thea develops a flirtatious friendship with Frank, and then a grudging affinity with his twelve-year-old niece, Kim, who lives with them. Although she has never much liked children, Thea discovers a gradual and wholly unexpected bond with the half-Vietnamese Kim, a solitary, bookish child from a troubled background.
'Her growing sympathy with Kim propels Thea into a psychological minefield. Finding Frank's behaviour increasingly irresponsible, she becomes convinced that all is not well in the house. Unsettling suspicions, which may or may not be irrational, begin to dominate her life, and build towards a catastrophic climax.' (From the publisher's website.)
Notes
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Dedication:For my lifelong friends in the JCH 'mafia': Anna Bowman,
Jennifer Bryce, Caroline Clemente, Elaine Counsell, Jean Deacon,
Penny Gay, Angela Munro, Jo Bell, Carole Pinnock
and, in memory, Jennifer Gibbs
Affiliation Notes
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Associated with the AustLit subset Australian Literary Responses to 'Asia' as the work contains a part-Vietnamese character.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
- Braille.
- Large print.
Works about this Work
-
Miles Franklin Longlist Has Room for Both Genders
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 29 March 2012; (p. 5) -
Lessons at School of Hard Knocks
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 16-17 July 2011; (p. 39)
— Review of The Precipice 2011 single work novel ; Friends Like These 2011 single work novel -
Edge-Of-Seat Evocation
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 18 June 2011; (p. 29)
— Review of The Precipice 2011 single work novel -
Chilling Steps to the Edge
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 21 May 2011; (p. 25)
— Review of The Precipice 2011 single work novel -
Well Read
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 7 May 2011; (p. 28)
— Review of Too Close to Home 2011 single work novel ; The Precipice 2011 single work novel
-
[Review] The Precipice
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , March vol. 90 no. 6 2011; (p. 34)
— Review of The Precipice 2011 single work novel -
Rage and Ruin
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 7- 8 May 2011; (p. 20-21)
— Review of The Precipice 2011 single work novel -
Well Read
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 7 May 2011; (p. 28)
— Review of Too Close to Home 2011 single work novel ; The Precipice 2011 single work novel -
Chilling Steps to the Edge
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 21 May 2011; (p. 25)
— Review of The Precipice 2011 single work novel -
Edge-Of-Seat Evocation
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 18 June 2011; (p. 29)
— Review of The Precipice 2011 single work novel -
Miles Franklin Longlist Has Room for Both Genders
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 29 March 2012; (p. 5)
Awards
- 2012 shortlisted Davitt Award — Best Adult Crime Novel
- 2012 longlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
- Blue Mountains, Sydney, New South Wales,