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Erica Marsden’s son, an artist, has been imprisoned for homicidal negligence. In a state of grief, Erica cuts off all ties to family and friends, and retreats to a quiet hamlet on the south-east coast near the prison where he is serving his sentence. There, in a rundown shack, she obsesses over creating a labyrinth by the ocean. To build it—to find a way out of her quandary—Erica will need the help of strangers. And that will require her to trust, and to reckon with her past. The Labyrinth is a hypnotic story of guilt and denial, of the fraught relationship between parents and children, that is also a meditation on how art can both be ruthlessly destructive and restore sanity. This multi-award-winning bestseller shows Amanda Lohrey to be at the peak of her powers.
Luke and Anna, thirty-something and restless, decide on a sea change. Worn down by city life and wounded by a loss neither can talk about, they flee to a sleepy village by the coast. There, surrounded by nature, they begin to feel rejuvenated. But when bushfire threatens their new home, they must confront what they have tried to put behind them. Vertigo is a fable of love and awakening by one of Australia's finest writers, about the unexpected way emotions can return and life can change. ‘Vertigo will keep you up much too late but it’s worth a one-sitting read.’ —West Australian ‘Extraordinarily vivid and compelling ... a stunning and memorable novella’ —The Age ‘Lohrey achieves a kind of perfection’ —Sydney Morning Herald 'A carefully crafted little gem of a book’ —Advertiser
I woke with a gasp. And lay in the dark, open-mouthed, holding my breath. That feeling . . . that feeling was indescribable. For a moment I had felt as if I were falling . . . falling into bliss. All his life, Richard Kline has been haunted by a sense that something is lacking. He envies the ease with which others slip into contented suburban life or the pursuit of wealth. As he moves into middle age, Richard grows angry, cynical, depressed. But then a strange event, a profound epiphany, awakens him to a different way of life. He finds himself on a quest, almost against his will, to resolve the “divine discontent” he has suffered since childhood. From pharmaceuticals to New Age therapies...
A woman finds her everyday life engulfed by vivid fantasies, a businessman explores new ways to deal with his rage, a young woman is stuck on a boat with a bunch of delinquents, a diary is discovered, a commune goes wrong In this captivating collection of short fiction, award-winning novelist Amanda Lohrey explores the dilemmas of modern life. Her characters find themselves caught between body and spirit, memory and desire, ambition and mortality - and they must transform themselves or be trapped. Shot through with a serene intelligence, these tales enlighten and entertain in equal measure.
In a world divided into fliers and non - fliers, how far would you go to be able to fly? How much would you sacrifice - your own child?
A jaw-dropping account of how one company came to own every poker machine in the state of Tasmania – and the cost to democracy, the public purse and problem gamblers and their families. The story begins with the toppling of a premier, and ends with David Walsh, the man behind MONA, taking an eccentric stand against pokie machines and the political status quo. It is a story of broken politics and back-room deals. It shows how giving one company the licence to all the poker machines in Tasmania has led to several hundred million dollars of profits (mainly from problem gamblers) being diverted from public use, through a series of questionable and poorly understood deals. Losing Streak is a meticulous, compelling case study in governance failure, which has implications for pokies reform throughout Australia.
In an era where tools are not limiting, our challenge is to cultivate a productive LIVE online culture – the opportunity is to maximise the effectiveness of remote working and virtual learning. TRANSFORMATION is well underway As the global pandemic struck the world in 2020, organisations and individuals, managers and entrepreneurs quickly hopped online to manage, deliver and facilitate virtually what needed to get done. Gartner reported that 88% of organisations worldwide made it mandatory or encouraged their employees to work from home after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Furthermore, 97% of organisations immediately cancelled all work-related travel. We found new ways to work, collabo...
The best of the best This essential book takes a decade of Best Australian Stories and selects the most outstanding short fiction by the country's finest writers. These stories range widely in style and subject matter: there is drama and comedy, subtlety and extravagance, tales of suspense, love, fantasy, grief and revenge. Together they showcas...
In this wide-ranging collection, there are stories that will surprise, unsettle and beguile readers. Familiar subjects are examined from new perspectives: a teenage girl sneaks into a famous film director's study and steals his diaries; the life of Picasso is reimagined in miniature vignettes. And new life is breathed into the most universal of experiences: birth, death, love and loss. The mother of a girl with hearing difficulties watches her child grow into increasing independence. A young woman makes a poignant voyage to the site of her brothers suicide.
Toyo learned to ask nothing, to wait and count the days. But they passed and passed and still the doorway remained empty of his deep voice, calling out her name. Toyo is the story of a remarkable woman, a vivid picture of Japan before and after war, and an unpredictable tale of courage and change in present-day Australia.