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person or book cover
Image courtesy of Pan Macmillan.
y separately published work icon Mateship with Birds single work   novel   historical fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 2012... 2012 Mateship with Birds
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'On the outskirts of an Australian country town in the 1950s, a lonely farmer trains his binoculars on a family of kookaburras that roost in a tree near his house. Harry observes the kookaburras through a year of feast, famine, birth, death, war, romance and song. As Harry watches the birds, his next door neighbour has her own set of binoculars trained on him.

'Ardent, hard-working Betty has escaped to the country with her two fatherless children. Betty is pleased that her son, Michael, wants to spend time with the gentle farmer next door. But when Harry decides to teach Michael about the opposite sex, perilous boundaries are crossed.

'Mateship with Birds is a novel about young lust and mature love. It is a hymn to the rhythm of country life - to vicious birds, virginal cows, adored dogs and ill-used sheep. On one small farm in a vast, ancient landscape, a collection of misfits question the nature of what a family can be.' (From the publisher's website.)

Exhibitions

19046856
18667821

Notes

  • The title for this novel comes from Alec Chisholm's 1922 prose collection Mateship with Birds.
  • Dedication: For Peter

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Picador , 2012 .
      person or book cover
      Image courtesy of Pan Macmillan.
      Extent: 211p.
      Description: illus.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: 1 February 2012.
      ISBN: 9781742610764 (pbk.)
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Picador ,
      2013 .
      image of person or book cover 8579189812051941479.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Goodreads.
      Extent: 224p.
      Note/s:
      • Published June 6th 2013
      ISBN: 9780330544467
Alternative title: Vennskap med fugler
Language: Norwegian
    • Oslo,
      c
      Norway,
      c
      Scandinavia, Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Juritzen ,
      2014 .
      image of person or book cover 1298142380064998956.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 234p.p.
      ISBN: 9788282055482, 8282055484

Other Formats

Works about this Work

The New Historical Novel : Putting Mid-twentieth-century Australia into Perspective Nicholas Birns , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: Commonwealth : Essays and Studies , Autumn vol. 41 no. 1 2018; (p. 7-18)

'This article argues that, since 2004 or so, a new kind of Australian historical novel has emerged among practitioners of literary fiction, one concerned with the mid-twentieth century. This new historical fiction has been characterized by an aesthetic stringency and self-consciousness. Though Steven Carroll and Ashley Hay will be the principal twenty-first-century writers examined, reference will also be made to several other writers including Carrie Tiffany, Charlotte Wood, Sofie Laguna, and to the later work of Peter Carey. In all these contemporary books, technology plays a major role in defining the twentieth century as seen historically.'  (Publication abstract)

 

Tiffany's Stella Effort Recognised Melissa Archer , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 15 May 2013; (p. 72)
Stella Award Women Writers Line up for Prize 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 21 March 2013; (p. 34)
Book win rebuts the critics 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 17 April 2013; (p. 23)
Tiffany First to Take Home Stella 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 17 April 2013; (p. 7)
Untitled David Gaunt , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , Summer 2011/12 vol. 91 no. 6 2011; (p. 33)

— Review of Mateship with Birds Carrie Tiffany , 2012 single work novel
Small Is Beautiful Felicity Plunkett , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 28 January 2012; (p. 23)

— Review of Mateship with Birds Carrie Tiffany , 2012 single work novel
In Search of Things Past Peter Pierce , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 4-5 February 2012; (p. 24-25)

— Review of Currawalli Street Christopher Morgan , 2012 single work novel ; Mateship with Birds Carrie Tiffany , 2012 single work novel
Books Lizzie Stafford , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 5 February 2012; (p. 37)

— Review of Mateship with Birds Carrie Tiffany , 2012 single work novel
Dubious Lessons Bronwyn Lea , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February no. 338 2012; (p. 27)

— Review of Mateship with Birds Carrie Tiffany , 2012 single work novel
Carrie Tiffany Susan Wyndham , 2012 single work biography
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 4-5 February 2012; (p. 30-31) The Saturday Age , 11 February 2012; (p. 28-29)
Undercover Susan Wyndham , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 4-5 February 2012; (p. 31)
A column canvassing current literary news including a report on Carrie Tiffany's choice of book cover for her 2012 novel Mateship with Birds. The cover reproduces a painting by Sydney artist Sophie Gralton titled Boy in Hand Me Downs. Susan Wyndham also notes the 24-25 March 2012 open house at the former abode of Dorothea Mackellar and current home of Susan Duncan, 'Tarrangaua'.
Missing the Point Michael Jorgensen , 2012 single work correspondence
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 340 2012; (p. 3)
Michael Jorgensen disagrees with the views expressed in Bronwyn Lea's review ('Dubious Lessons') of Carrie Tiffany's Mateship with Birds.
Bronwyn Lea Replies: Bronwyn Lea , 2012 single work correspondence
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 340 2012; (p. 3)
Bronwyn Lea responds to the views put by Michael Jorgensen in his criticism of her review of Carrie Tiffany's Mateship with Birds.
Fifty Shades of Great Susan Wyndham , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 28-29 December 2012; (p. 3)
So many books, so little time - literary editor Susan Wyndham rounds up the years best.
Last amended 13 Jul 2021 11:51:29
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