It’s 1927, Sarah Carson is fearless, charismatic and determined to take part in the first flight from England to Australia. She makes a deal with pilot James Harrington that she can come on the flight. What follows is fame, love, tragedy and notoriety, with one of them even be accused of murder.
You couldn’t make it up. In fact, much of it is true. Yeldham has fictionalised the incredible life of Australian aviatrix Jessie Miller, cleverly and sympathetically. Truth leaps from every page, demonstrating that life is hardly ever what you expect and it’s almost never like a Hollywood script. The ending is exponentially more powerful because it’s true. Glory Girl is a wonderful account of a gutsy Australian who lived an extraordinary life.
THE COURIER’S TALEBY PETER WALKER, BLOOMSBURY, $32.99.
This is the story of the only man to tell Henry VIII the truth about his laughable lust for Anne Boleyn and the cold-blooded murders he committed to get what he wanted.
Reginald Pole was Henry’s Plantagenet cousin, who came close to becoming both Pope and King of England. His story is told through the eyes of Pole’s canny courier Michael Throckmorton, a man who spent much of his life galloping between Italy and London. The novel is based largely on his letters, which are still held in the British archives. The Courier’s Tale is a fascinating lesson in history and in the psychology of a man who dared to cross one of the world’s most powerful men – and paid the price.
WHY MEN ARE NECESSARY AND MORE NEWS FROM NOWHERE BY RICHARD GLOVER, ABC BOOKS, $27.99.
Why Men Are Necessary is something like what you’d get if you crossed Seinfeld with Neighbours. An Australian family, doing nothing particularly extraordinary, is transformed into 24-carat comedy gold.
Richard Glover’s beloved Jocasta is a feisty woman “with the body of a goddess and the vocabulary of a wharfie”, she’s partnered with a “heroic” male, “handsome, intelligent, sharp of eye and mind”. You might guess who that could be. Their domestic adventures and those of sons, Batboy and The Space Cadet, are hilarious because of our instant connection with them, ordinary family events, and they are told with sly wit and side-splitting one-liners.
Peter Webster is a good man and a single dad raising teenage daughter Rowan. For 17 years, they’ve lived a simple life together, but they’re missing a wife and mother.
The missing wife and mum in question is Sheila Arsenault, who was a young woman on the run when she crashed her car and met Webster, a rookie paramedic. He fell hard and quickly, and for a while he and Sheila were happy. yet even Webster couldn’t save his wife from herself. What happened to drive them apart? And can it ever be forgiven? For Rowan’s sake, their troubled past has to be addressed. It takes a second near-tragedy to bring this family together. The plot of Rescue sounds gruelling, but makes smooth reading.
The Hundred Foot Journey BY RICHARD C. MORAIS, ALLEN & UNWIN, $27.99.
If you enjoy a novel about food, you’re sure to love this tale of restaurant rivalry set in provincial France.
When the Haji family arrives in the village of Lumiere – with the dust of Mumbai still on their clothes and intoxicating Indian flavours suffusing their cooking – little do they know they have set up their restaurant opposite a Michelin-starred establishment which has been revered for generations. What ensues is a sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant battle of wits and dishes that will have your mouth watering.
In 30 words or less, tell us what is great about a book you are reading at the moment. The best critique will be printed in the March issue of The Weekly and the writer will win The AWW Cooking School cookbook, valued at $74.95.
FROM BLOODBY EDWARD WRIGHT, ORION, $32.99..
Is it the confessional protagonist Shannon Fairchild or the gritty domestic political-thriller plot that conjures the heady aura of film noir in this crime novel? Either way – and it’s probably a combination of the two – it makes for a compulsive and very visual read.
Author Edward Wright, whose first career was newspaper editor, gives just enough detail and description to paint the picture but also devotes time to developing his characters beyond the usual crime-thriller stereotypes, so you care about what happens to them.
The result is a fast-paced, engaging read, perfect to transport you on lazy summer days.
The novel opens with a powerful scene. It’s 1968 and a security guard and his child are blown up in what appears to be a callous, terrorist-style attack. Fast-forward to present day and Shannon Fairchild is nursing a shiny black eye as she is hauled in front of a judge in a local courthouse to explain the drunken brawl that landed her in the clink overnight. How Shannon is linked to this event unfolds much, much later in the novel.
Shannon is the rebellious bolshy heroine who has always felt like the square peg in her academic, high-achieving family circle, not because she couldn’t keep up, but because she felt an uncontrollable need to rebel.
When her parents are tortured, murdered and their home torched, Shannon is forced to revisit her notion of these mild-mannered professors and of her troubled role within the family unit. A curious message from her dying mother’s bedside sets Shannon on a path to investigate their past and fulfil her mother’s final request. What she discovers, however, is a disturbing and rather exciting back story of radical politics that careered far beyond a few student rallies. Shannon is perplexed and the more she uncovers, the more she realises how little she understood her parents and how much they understood her.
While you won’t be guessing all the way to the last line, there are enough turns to keep the plot moving and plenty of tightly drawn characters. But the real strength of Wright’s tale is his central character: the feisty, self-deprecating “girl pirate” who just can’t help but get involved.
In 30 words or less, tell us what is great about a book you are reading at the moment. The best critique will be printed in the March issue of The Weekly and the writer will win The AWW Cooking School cookbook, valued at $74.95.
Please ensure you leave an email address you can be contacted on in order to be eligible for the prize.
Photo by Mario Testino/Clarence House Press Office via Getty Images
Catherine Middleton is so in love and ready to marry her Prince, reports Katie Nicholl, royal writer with The Mail On Sunday and author of William And Harry.
A hushed silence falls over the appropriately named Queen’s Head pub in the quaint village of Chapel Row as Catherine Middleton and her mother Carole take a seat at the bar. They are well-known in the tranquil village in the heart of Bucklebury which boasts some of England’s prettiest countryside, but nonetheless, the regulars can’t seem to help but stare.
It is a Tuesday night and the two women raise their glasses. The ice in Carole’s gin and tonic clinks merrily in its tumbler. Catherine, never one to really drink spirits, nurses a glass of chilled white wine as they strike up a conversation taking care not to speak above a whisper. With their long legs and perfectly toned figures the two women, who look more like siblings than mother and daughter, draw admiring glances.
Kate will have to embrace change in order to be a success. A sophisticated training program has been in place for some years to ensure that her transition from “commoner” to royal is seamless. At St James’ Palace “Team Kate” is hard at work. She is having lessons in royal history and protocol, which can be confusing. Kate would always be expected to curtsey to the Queen, as do the rest of the royal family, while protocol dictates Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, would curtsey to Kate if Prince William is present and Charles is not. While Kate is receiving support from Camilla, who is said to like Kate immensely, Kate is understood to be having counselling to help her come to terms with the enormity of what lies ahead. One of the things she will have to cope with is the inevitable comparisons with Diana.
So how much will Kate’s life change when she becomes a princess? For the foreseeable future, the answer is relatively little. William and Kate will continue to live on the island of Anglesey, off the Welsh coast, where William is stationed with the RAF as a search and rescue pilot. “They plan to spend the next two, maybe three years in Wales and their daily lives will not change much,” explains an aide. “William and Kate have made it clear they don’t want it to change. He loves his job and Kate wants to be a good wife and support her husband. She is very happy in Wales and they certainly don’t want aides, butlers or anything like that.”
While William has a career, a plan is currently being mapped out for Catherine. Courtiers believe that, for Kate to be popular, being an army wife is not enough. According to one senior aide, “A number of charitable roles are being explored. Kate has some real passions, especially working with children, and this is something she wants us to explore for her.
“We want to make sure we choose the right charities for Kate and there are a number of options. Catherine wants to use her title and her position to help others,” the aide adds.
There are also plans in place for Kate to accompany William on some of his charitable visits and talk of them carrying out an overseas tour. William, who is a patron of Centrepoint charity for the homeless, wants Kate to accompany him on some of his charitable engagements so he can “show her the ropes”. The Queen has also suggested Sophie Wessex act as a mentor for Kate. Prince Edward and his wife recently set up their own charitable foundation and the Queen admires how Sophie balances being a wife and mother with her charitable work and public role.
“What Kate is walking into is not to be underestimated and the Palace learnt from Diana how alienating marrying into the royal family can be,” says one source at the Palace. ‘No one wants Kate to feel isolated. The royal family want her to feel as at home with them as she does with her own family.”
Read more of this story in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Your say: What do you think of this story? Do you think Kate will make a wonderful princess? Share with us below.
*Imagine never being allowed to hold your new grandchild, or being prevented from saying goodbye to your dying husband. Bo Zaw Gyi meets Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, where she’s finally been freed from house arrest.**
To the world she is a freedom fighter, a woman brave enough to stand up to the Burmese military junta. To her countrymen she is known as The Lady, a name they whisper in hushed, reverential tones.
But 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, 65, is also a wife and mother, who has spent 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest, staring at the same decaying walls, while her people suffered and her family lived in exile far away from her.
In November 2010, we all cheered when she was granted liberty again, and her supporters flocked to her home when the army removed the barricades.
When The Weekly visited just days later, gardeners were busy cleaning up the lawn of her weathered colonial mansion. “Do come in and sorry for the state of this place, we’re having a bit of clean-up,” she says, with the British accent she acquired from many years living in England.
For such a petite woman, she has a commanding, no-nonsense presence. Her poise and ramrod-straight back are hints of the determination and discipline that have made her famous.
She takes me to the drawing room downstairs, which overlooks Inya Lake; a room that for so long has been Suu Kyi’s prison. It is panelled in teak and is sparsely furnished but for the guitar and drum kit used by a local youth band. A portrait of her father, General Aung San, who was assassinated in the same year – 1947 – he negotiated Burma’s independence from Britain, hangs on the wall.
“Oh it wasn’t all that difficult,” she says of her house arrest with typical modesty, before reminding me of the estimated 2,100 political prisoners being held in Burmese prisons. “I was simply sitting in my home and I’ve never been one for going out a lot.”
Suu Kyi filled her days with reading – novels and poetry; music – she plays piano; listening to the radio up to six hours per day – mainly the BBC. “I had to know the news each day because no one could come and tell me,”
Read more of this story in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Your say: What do you think of this story? What do you think Suu Kyi will do next? Share with us below.
These three women were duped by a charismatic con man, but fought back by warning other women on the web. Now he’s under arrest, reports Jordan Baker.
It was the eyes that hooked Diana Mors. His charm and generosity were appealing, too, but she loved his George Clooney gaze – a gaze that made her feel like the only woman in the world. Tom* was funny, handsome and smart, almost too good to be true. But, she reasoned, good things eventually come to those who deserve them.
It was in late 2008, as they got to know each other through emails, that Tom told her of his loneliness after his fiancée died in a car accident. He mentioned only in passing the fortune that alloweé him to take extravagant holidays, wander the country and go back to university. He was new to Brisbane and would be staying a little while, he told her. He had a suggestion: could he rent a room at her house rather than stay at a lonely hotel?
He moved in, romance blossomed, and Tom showed his gratitude by taking her shopping for designer clothes and a car. They had have extravagant dinners. But Tom never paid for the shopping sprees on the spot, and the purchases were never delivered. When they dined out, she would pay and he’d add it to the money his personal assistant was transferring to her account.
When, after six weeks, he owed her about $2000, Diana told Tom to leave and sort his finances out. “You know where I am once you’ve worked things out,” she told him. He packed his bags and disappeared. She later found out he moved straight in with Rebecca, a woman he met online using Diana’s internet connection.
While living at Diana’s house, Tom had dazzled smart, savvy Rebecca Bell, 33. He shared many of her interests, and she was moved by the tragic story of his fiancée who died in a car accident. “He had a lot of confidence and I think that enticed me,” Rebecca says. “You feel like you haven’t had a connection with someone like that in a long time.”
He was wealthy, he told her, but expensive hotels were lonely. He was staying with a friend, but would rather rent a room off Rebecca. She invited him into her home and romance blossomed. He valued her opinion and consulted her about his business dealings. She saw emails and texts from his associates, which seemed to back up his tales. He took her shopping for expensive gifts, although there was always a reason why he could not pay on the spot.
“Each time I’d try to ask him questions, he’d produce a document or email, or turn it around on me, saying how could I not trust him?” she tells The Weekly. As Rebecca waited to move into a house he said he had bought for her, Tom flew to Adelaide to give a speech on carbon credits. “I knew he was leaving,” she says. “I was relieved. And then a little light bulb went off in my head.”
Rebecca dug out the phone number of the “friend” he’d mentioned, a woman called Diana, and sent her a text message. It read: “I’ve been with Tom. I think he’s a con man.” Diana called her immediately. “Honey,” she said, “you don’t know the half of it.”
Using information they remembered from conversations with Tom, they tracked down one of his victims, who in turn helped them track down others. With painstaking research, they pieced together the past 10 years of his life and contacted 21 women across Australia and the USA, who had been hurt and ripped off by Tom. Diana and Rebecca learned that there were worse cases than theirs; some women were financially ruined. Their quest became two-pronged – to protect other women, and to support those who had fallen victim. They call it a “survivors group”.
Yet on the many occasions they tried to report Tom to police, they got little sympathy. “Police would say there’s no law against lying or moral misconduct,” says Diana. “What gets me is if I walked into David Jones and took thousands of dollars worth of goods, I’d be in prison. But when he walks into someone’s life and rips them off, you get a condescending look and ‘buyer beware, honey’.”
Read more of this story in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Your say: What do you think of this story? Have you ever been conned before? Share with us below.
For some parents, discovering their child is homosexual is a crushing blow that destroys their relationship, but as Michael Sheather discovers, it can also open the way to self-awareness and even stronger family bonds.
Narelle Phipps knew quite early that her son Neil saw the world through a different prism. “I first wondered if Neil might be gay when he was about eight,” says Narelle. “He was our only son, but he seemed so very different to the other boys.”
“He loved rhythmic gymnastics and he’d dance around on the deck, twirling coloured ribbons in the air. His sister is five years older than he is, but he joined in her jazz ballet classes and loved it, but didn’t seem to notice that he was the only bloke. He was a gorgeous boy who made a wonderful contribution to the family because he was so lovely.”
For the next decade, Narelle did what she now describes as “a wonderful job of burying my head in the sand. I just pushed that to the back of my mind and carried on,” she says. “I don’t know why. Perhaps I was hoping that it would all go away and I wouldn’t have to deal with it. But I was wrong.”
Coming to terms with the reality of a homosexual child is a difficult prospect for many parents. More than one million Australians – about one in 20 – define themselves as gay or lesbian, though many believe a truer rate could be as high as one person in 12.
While some have no trouble accepting their children for who they are, others struggle in an emotional conflict that sometimes tears families apart. Not only must parents overcome their own prejudices, they must also overcome an overwhelming assault from some of the most powerful feelings in the human spectrum – fear, grief and even disgust – many times fuelled by misunderstanding, misinformation and ignorance, and all of them destructive in their own way.
Yet, as the case studies in the January issue of The Weekly show, it does not always have to end in bitterness and recrimination, nor in family breakdown.
When Neil was 18, Narelle and her husband Keith, an engineering consultant from western Sydney, came home from a weekend away. “We came home to discover that Neil had gone to Mardi Gras, the annual gay and lesbian parade in Sydney, with some friends and that he had worn his sister’s silver spangly dress.
“I sat down with him at the dining room table and asked him if he was gay and he said, ‘No Mum, I’m not.’ Two weeks later, I asked him again and this time he said yes. To my eternal regret, I handled it badly. I told him I was devastated. He needed me to understand, but some part of me wasn’t really listening. It was awful. I’m so sorry about that. I’d had 10 years to get ready for it, but I didn’t.”
Read more of this story in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Your say: What do you think of this story? Is your son or daughter gay? Has finding that out changed your relationship? Share with us below.
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