Author: Thomas Keneally
Read by: Paul English and Heather Bolton
Publisher: Melbourne, Vic.: Bolinda Publishing Pty, Limited, 2013
(CD Audio)
Thomas Keneally is a master story-teller who weaves richly character-driven tales. Set in war-time country Australia and inspired by the notorious Cowra break-out in 1944 the story interweaves the lives and attitudes of those living in and around a fictitious POW internment camp. An insightful examination of the impact of the war on those who are far removed from the fighting occurs in a diverse array of characters from prisoners and their keepers to local farmers & communities wrestling with their adherence to the Geneva Convention.
What did you hear or know about the Cowra break-out? What impact did the war have on your family?
Author: Diane Armstrong
Read by: Deidre Rubenstein
Publisher: Melbourne, Vic. : Bolinda Publishing Pty, Limited, 2011
(CD Audio)
Originally commemorated throughout the British Empire on Queen Victoria’s birthday in May, Empire Day was more commonly known as Cracker Night and celebrated by bonfires and the lighting of fireworks. On Empire Day 1948 we meet the residents of a street in Bondi, half of whom are Australian–born and half who are European migrants searching for a new life after WW2. Each person has their own misconceptions about their neighbours and these are tested and challenged as relationships evolve.
How did you celebrate Empire Day?
Click here for a sample
Author: Geoffrey McGeachin
Read by: Peter Byrne
Publisher: Melbourne, Vic. : Bolinda Publishing Pty, Limited, 2010
(CD Audio)
This is the first novel in the Charlie Berlin Mystery Series and won the Ned Kelly Award for crime writing in 2011. Set in post-WW2 Melbourne & rural Victoria, the protagonist is a pre-war policeman returning to duty while bearing the internal and external scars of his military & POW experiences. It raises issues of the psychological effects of war on both those who served and those who remained at home, and artfully crafts images of a post-war Australian society including rationing, culinary habits, and attitudes to various social groups.
Anyone for a return to ‘Lambs fry Friday’??
Click here for a preview
Author: Colleen McCullough
Read by: Deidre Rubenstein
Publisher: Melbourne, Vic. : Bolinda Publishing Pty, Limited, 2013
(Pre-recorded MP3 player)
Australian author, Colleen McCullough, has written a story likened to the epic historical romance “The Thorn Birds”! Bittersweet is a family saga set in depression-era rural New South Wales. What separates two sets of identical twin girls from the same family are their unique personalities and individual aspirations and the way each of them negotiate difficulties in the 1920s and 1930s. What unites them along the way is an even stronger bond of sisterhood and family.
