Janette Turner Hospital is a celebrated author whose works delve into the complexities of human relationships and moral ambiguities with keen psychological insight. Her prose is characterized by a rich, lyrical style, adept at capturing the subtle nuances of the human experience. Often setting her narratives in diverse international locales that echo her own journeys, Hospital explores themes of identity, memory, and the search for belonging. Her writing is lauded for its literary merit and its capacity to provoke deep contemplation.
Leela, a young mathematician, finds herself drawn to Mishka, a talented Australian musician, after a chance encounter in the subway, leading to a passionate romance. As they immerse themselves in their love, the chaos of the urban environment fades away. However, their relationship is tested when Leela is abducted for interrogation and a subway explosion disrupts their world, challenging their identities and the strength of their bond. The book also includes a reading group guide for discussion.
Exploring the theme of loss, the stories delve into the complexities of human relationships and the emotional landscapes they inhabit. Characters navigate poignant reunions, such as midlife lovers reflecting on their past, while others face unsettling encounters that challenge their sense of security. A dental hygienist grapples with her brother’s struggles, and a mother-daughter duo confronts the haunting presence of a previous homeowner. Through these narratives, the author captures the tension between disconnection and the deep desire for connection, highlighting the nuanced nature of human experiences.
The narrative explores the intertwined lives of Samantha, a survivor of a hijacked flight, and Lowell, the son of a victim, as they confront their shared trauma. Driven by her fixation on the past, Samantha's senior thesis becomes a catalyst for unraveling buried secrets and painful memories. The novel delves into themes of familial and national histories, the complexities of survival, and the dark realities of espionage in a post-9/11 world, revealing the profound impacts of terrorism on personal lives and societal dynamics.
From the acclaimed author of Due Preparations for the Plague comes a powerful Australian story. Stories do insist on being told. Even the stories of hidden lives and towns and opal reefs. By cunning intention, and sometimes by discreet bribery (or other dispatch) of government surveyors, the opal-mining town Outer Maroo has kept itself off maps. And yet people do stumble into town, because the seduction of nowhere is hard to resist. two strangers reach Outer Maroo, searching for a stepdaughter and son who have mysteriously disappeared. there is a heavy, guilty feeling to the hot, parched-dry town. Mercy Given and Old Jess (everyone calls her Old Silence) watch from Ma and Bill Beresford's store. On the verandah of Bernie's Last Chance, the drinkers wait to take stock of the foreigners, before they return to their cattle properties or their sheep stations or to their stake-outs in the opal fields. Dukke Prophet crosses the street from the Living Word Gospel Hall. Young Alice Godwin whimpers. Outer Maroo. Population 87. Here two opposing cultures - the rough-diamond, boozing, fiercely individualistic bush folk and the teetotaller, church-going fundamentalists - used to coexist peaceably. Until the arrival of the cult messiah Oyster.
The tyrannical Edward, raging against the indignities of old age, and Elizabeth, his charming and forgiving wife, await the arrival of their children: Jason, a suave analyst who privately seethes with hatred for his father; Victoria, perpetually caught in an adolescence various institutions have been unable to unlock, and Emily, a concern violinist who skips continents rather than face stability, and who is bringing her young son to see his grandfather for the first time. The scene is set for their anniversary reunion. Here Janette Turner Hospital unravels the skeins of family life - its hostilities, explosive secrets and its constricting yet enduring love. The result is one of the most haunting and assured explorations of the family in contemporary fiction.
