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Take a look.
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Hello and welcome to hear this. I'm Frances Keyland and this is the Vision Australia Library radio show on Vision Australia Radio, where we talk about books in the Vision Australia library, including some Braille books, audio books. But even though this show focuses just on the books, it's worthwhile mentioning that if you have a print disability, you can join the library and receive newspapers, magazines, as well as books. Today we've got an interesting array of books to play samples of, so I do hope you enjoy the show. Toward the end of last year, it was lovely to get a couple of new books in the collection from two very wonderful Australian authors.
The first one is Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton. Trent Dalton's first novel, Boy Swallows Universe, was a runaway success and is about to be launched on our televisions as a series with illustrious actors such as Bryan Brown, Simon Baker, Travis Fimmel and enjoyable cast. And that book and the series was based on Dalton's background. And here in the Sydney Morning Herald, he he revealed the story is 5050. Fact and fiction. The synopsis for Lola in the mirror is a girl and her mother have been on the run for 16 years from the police and the monster they left in their kitchen with a knife in his throat. They found themselves a home inside a van with four flat tires, parked in a scrapyard by the edge of the Brisbane River.
The girl has no name because names are dangerous when you're on the run. But the girl has a dream, a vision of a life as an artist of international acclaim, a life outside the grip of the Brisbane underworld drug queen lady Flora box a life of love with the boy who's waiting for her on the bridge that stretches across a flooding, deadly river. A life beyond the bullet that has her name on it. And now that the storm clouds are rising, there's only one person who can help make her dreams come true. That person is Lola, and she carries all the answers. But to find Lola, the girl with no name must first do one of the hardest things we can ever do. She must look in the mirror. This book does come with warnings of, heavy drug use and high levels of bad language. But let's hear a sample. It's narrated by Victoria Graves.
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Temple and Webster mirror propped against a brick wall in a West End panel beater scrapyard, September 2022. Pen and ink on paper. A haunting, dreamlike image and the first illustrated appearance of the artist's famed full length mirror. The titular Western panel beater scrapyard refers to the home the artist shared with her mother, an orphan boy who was her best friend, a former military tank driver, a nurse, the nurse's mute son, and a toothless woman managing an addiction to Pascal, Clinkers sketched some 18 months before the artist met her one true love, Danny Collins. Mirror, mirror on the grass. What's my future? What's my past? People think magic mirrors are found only in fairy tales. I found mine last summer on Lime Street, Highgate Hill, in a Brisbane City Council kerbside collection. Mira. Mira plays. Don't lie. Tell me who you are. Tell me, who am I?
My magic mirror was resting on a moldy ping pong table beside a Cavendish banana box full of baby dolls with limbs and eyeballs missing. My mirror has a matte gold frame arched at the top, like the entrance to an Arabian Princess bedroom. The family. At 36, lime dumped the mirror because there was a thick diagonal crack across the middle of it. There was a sales sticker on the back. Temple and Webster and Mena arched mirror, $299. At first I thought that was a bit much. Dropping three avocados on some place to look when you're brushing your mop. But now, in the thick of this lilac jacaranda spring of my 17th year on earth, I consider this mirror that I stare at in the dawn light. The best light for staring into a magic mirror. The second most valuable thing in my life.
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That was Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton. That book goes for 13 hours and 39 minutes on ABC. Are you? There was an interview with Dalton asking, Is Lola in the mirror based on a true story? And Dalton said he's based many of the characters in the book on people he met at a homeless shelter while working as a reporter, and he says that the job taught him that drugs and drink aren't the things that put people on the street. It's often moments of trauma. Good reads. The community of Good Reads have called it big hearted, gritty, magical and moving, whereas the Guardian have been a little a little less favorable towards it. Um, and this is from this is from the 13th of October, 2023. They've headlined the review saying Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton is a misguided bootstraps story, drowning in sentimentality, and the review picks apart the novels some faults, as seen by the reviewer who is Jack Callil. So a real mixture of people praising it and loving it and loving its hopeful and magical message, and some people saying no, it romanticizes homelessness and um, yeah, so have a reading and see what you think.
Again, the warning there with high levels of bad language and heavy drug taking. Trent is spelt Trent. Trent Dalton is Dalton. Dalton. The next book by a wonderful Australian author, Melissa Lukashenko is Eden Glassy, set in Brisbane when First Nations people still outnumber the colonists. Award winning Zagori author Melissa Lukashenko tells two extraordinary stories set five generations apart. When Mulan meets the beautiful niece Nita in Eden glassy, their saltwater people still outnumber the British. As colonial unrest peaks, Mulligan dreams of taking his bride home to yoga country, but his plans for independence collide with white justice. Two centuries later, fiery activist Winona meets Doctor Johnny. Together, they care for obstinate centenarian Granny Edie, and sparks fly, but not always in the right direction. What nobody knows is how far the legacies of the past will reach into their modern lives. Let's hear a sample of Eden Glacier by Melissa Lukashenko. It's narrated by Ursula Jovovich. Eddie Blanket was falling.
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Falling, falling towards the good Niagara Earth a calamity at her age. A fall meant the end. Simple as that. Broken hip. Pneumonia kaput. Even as she lost the vertical, though, Granny Eddy was rejecting the whole stupid idea. You didn't live to her age by damn well accepting things, so she was definitely not falling. Toppling? Well, yes, possibly. Or teetering. Oh, like the teeter totter in the schoolyard. Remember? Hot yellow sunshine in the playground, thumping up and down with Lizzie Norman on the other end, Lizzie's terrible buck teeth bared. Enjoy. Lizzie was dead and buried. Now, of course, nearly everyone was. Edie had buried her own kids and her husband, two sisters and brothers. She'd outlived the lot, and now he. She was at South Bank, poised on the edge of the precipice herself.
Eddie observed, with a kind of detached dismay, her right knee buckling to the footpath outside the Maritime Museum. Her walking stick betraying her to skid across the grass and into the nearest garden bed. There was a solid three inches of cement between Granny Eddy's person and the good Yaga dirt of the ancestors. But that was of no concern to gravity, or indeed to Granny Eddy, for she was knocked cold by her fall. Everything had buggered up, gone skew with blurred trees, grew out of wavering buildings. Human shaped blobs stood at a right angle to normality. Something else was off to the traffic on Vulture Street had frozen in its lanes. The city cat didn't move midstream. Even the Qantas jet roaring over the river had decided to pull up and have a jolly old breather.
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And that was a sample of Eden Glossy by Melissa Lukashenko. That book goes for ten hours and 21 minutes. Melissa is Melissa. Melissa. Lukashenko is Lukashenko. Lukashenko? We've got a few books by Melissa in the collection. There's Mullumbimby killing Darcy, as well as too much Lip and too much Lip is also available in Braille. Lukashenko has called Eden Glassy her big novel again. Looking at the Guardian review in Eden, glassy Miles Franklin winner slices open Australia's past and present. And this is a review from Imogen Dewey again from October 2023. And in summing up in this review, Imogen writes Eden, glassy, glinting with love force and narrative glee, lays out a masterclass in the alternative. This novel, fiercely invested in a collective future, challenges any version of history that, to quote Nita, character in the book, looks in the other direction at what's easy to see. And in another part of the review, interesting concepts in Lukashenko's fiction stories wield corrective power against the ignorance is bliss approach that reaches its apex in Terra nullius.
If, as Chelsea would, Tego has written, the colonizer has a vested interest in insisting a veil somehow separates us from the past, Lukashenko uses her intergenerational stories to tear it down. Here is where you are. This is who is here and who is still here. So I imagine we're going to hear a lot about Eden Glassy as the year 2024 moves on. The next book is by another Australian author, Lois Murphy. This book is called soon, an almost deserted town in the middle of nowhere nebula's days of mining and farming prosperity, if they ever truly existed, are long gone. These days, even the name on the road sign into town has been removed. Yet for Pete an ex-policeman, Millie Lee and a small band of others, it's the only place they have ever felt at home. One winter solstice, a strange, residual and mysterious mist arrives that makes even the birds disappear. It is a real and potent force, yet also strangely emblematic of the complacency and unease that afflicts so many of our small towns and the country that Murphy knows so well. Partly inspired by the true story of Whittingham, the ill fated West Australia asbestos town, soon is the story of the death of a haunted town and the plight of the people who either won't or simply can't abandon all they have ever had. Let's hear a sample of Soon by Lois Murphy. It's narrated by Stephen Smitherman.
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The hardest thing I sometimes think, is keeping track of time. With no school or shops, there is nothing to define the days and the weeks flow through the calendar like a sluggish river. You don't realize the importance of ritual commonplace until it's gone. One of those peripheral things that you take for granted, even if they don't affect you personally, their absence is profound. I do have the TV, though that helps keep track to a degree. I have it on most nights. Understandably, SBS is my preference. I'm most partial to those documentaries that show people suffering all around the world. It's a guilty relief to know that there are always people worse off than you are. And if I have the volume up loud enough, he drowns out the night. I'm not into the soap operas, though. All those drawn out plots. Oh, there's a lull. Maybe we should kill someone off now. Hang on. We haven't had a coma yet this year. There's nothing like a good coma. What? It's been forgetting his lines.
Let's give him a turn. The unconvincing actors who think bewilderment is a good portrayal of angst. Now the soaps leave me cold. The reality shows are a hoot so contrived you can practically see the participants struggling to remember their scripts, forever anticipating their cues. There was talk at one stage that some bright Spark wanted to do a reality show out here. That would have been a laugh. What would they do? An eviction each week. Send them out into the mist and see what they come back as. Last one left alive gets to leave. Oh yes, highly entertaining. Would have pulled an audience, I'd imagine they say. MIT authorities put a stop to it, pressured the network with threats of prosecution for negligence and worse, if anyone got hurt. It's always nice to know they're looking out for us, but who knows? It was only a rumor. We used to get a lot of journalists, film crews at first, when most people had fled and the word had got out about the disappearances. We were flavor of the month, briefly filling out the freq file of the current affairs circuit, but it never really came to match.
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That was a sample of Soon by Lois Murphy. Lois is Lois, Lois Murphy is Murphy. Murphy. That novel goes for 7.5 hours, and it comes under the categories in the Library for horror, but also literature and fiction, which means it has literary merit as well, and mystery and thrillers. So a real grab bag of, um, of chills and thrills there. The Kirkus Review called it a gripping debut horror novel about the death of a haunted Australian town creeps with a similar energy and dread as that found in Josh Mailman's Bird Box. It was winner of the Audience Award for Best Horror for 2017. She wrote the majority of this her first novel, soon while living in a caravan park in Carnarvon in WA. And it's got some really good reviews from Amazon, including, four out of five stars. A slow burn of menace tied around the lives of the remaining residents of a small Aussie town. Atmospheric, creepy and a book that will hold you until the end. In the British Guardian, not the Australian one they call um soon that it has, uh, they say it has echoes of John Carpenter's The Fog and Stephen King's The Mist, a literary horror that isn't afraid to pull any punches.
The next book is a recommendation that comes from last year's treat Your Shelf, the Australian Christmas Sum webinar. I was lucky enough to attend, and I have, um, a book here that was recommended by one of the attendees. It is an Rohmer's and are generally recommended as an author as well. The book is Beyond the Orchard and the author is Anna Roma. Sorry. So beyond the orchard Lucy Briar has arrived home in turmoil after years overseas. She's met her fiancé in London and has her life mapped out. But something is holding her back, hoping to ground herself and find answers. Lucy settles into once familiar routines, but old tortured feelings flood Lucy's existence when her beloved father Ron is hospitalised and Morgan, the man who drove her away all those years ago, seeks her out worse. Ron implores Lucy to visit Bitter Wood Estate, the crumbling historic family guesthouse now left to him. He needs Lucy to find something. An old photograph album. The very thing that drove Ron and his father apart. Lucy has her own painful memories of bitter wood, darkness that has plagued her dreams since she was young. But as Lucy searches for the album, the house begins to give up its ghosts and she is driven to put them to rest, and they're held tightly between the house, the orchard and the soaring cliffs. Lucy uncovers a long hidden secret that shattered her family's bond and kept a frightened young girl in its thrall, and Lucy discovers just how fierce the lonely heart can be.
Let's hear a sample of Beyond the Orchard by Anna Roma. It's narrated by Via Lambrew.
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Melbourne, June 1993. Winter had arrived early. It was only 5:00 and already the night sky had settled black over the city. Trams rattled across the junction, churning up a slipstream of chip wrappers and dust. The air smelled of diesel exhaust and faintly of the ocean. As the street lights blinked on along Dandenong Road, I hurried up the footpath towards the Astor Theatre. On the bill tonight was a Hitchcock double feature, Rear Window I had seen a thousand times, but rope was new to me. Critics deemed it Hitchcock's masterpiece, and I was abuzz to see it. A short, balding man in his 60s with a shaggy beard, stood near the entryway stairs at the tail end of the queue. He wore jeans and a cardigan and clutched a beaten old briefcase. The cold evening air had flushed his ears pink. I wanted to run to him, fling myself into his arms the way I'd had done as a little girl, smother his round cheeks and kisses. Instead, I trod silently up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.
He whirled around and beamed, but then his face fell. Lucy, you look terrible. I gave him a quick hug. Thanks, dad. It's great to see you too. He peered into my face. Been getting enough sleep. It's only jetlag. I'll be fine. How's Adam? I tried to sound cheery. He called last night. He's good. Has he changed his mind about joining you? I gazed along the street and forced a smile. He's flat out at work. Otherwise he'd be he. Don't worry. He's still keen to meet you. Dad shook his head inside. Why do I get the feeling there's more to the story than you're telling?
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That was Beyond the Orchard by Anna Roma. Anna is a-n-n-a, Roma is r-o-m-e-r. And that book goes for 13.5 hours. There are the books by Anna Roma. In the library there is Lyrebird Hill and Thornwood House. So as you can probably tell by the titles, they are sort of family mysteries with a bit of love story thrown in, um, set around properties or houses in Australia from the website. Good reads and Aroma has um no noted about herself. She says hello there and thanks for visiting. I'm an internationally bestselling Australian author, unashamedly crosses genres with my writing. I adore mystery and romance, both historical and contemporary, with elements of paranormal woven in ghosts, haunted houses and fairy tales. I live by the ocean in northeastern Australia, and when I'm not writing, I'm a keen gardener, knitter, bush walker and conservation conservationist. Anna was born in Australia to a family of book lovers, and she led a nomadic life for many years, traveling around Europe and Britain in an ancient kombi van where she discovered a passion for history.
And if you do like those three books and you are an an aroma fan, she has released another one called Under the Midnight Sky that you may want to suggest the library gets in. Another suggestion from Treat Your Shelf from late last year was for Gabby Stroud and her book, The Things That Matter Most. The staff of Saint Margaret's Primary School are hanging by a thread. There's serious litigation pending. The school is due for registration, and a powerful parent named Janet Bellview has a lot to say about everything. As teachers, they're trying to remain professional as people. They're fast unraveling. Let's hear a sample of the things that matter most by Gabby Stroud. It's narrated by Jo Van ESS.
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There was so much to be nervous about. Tyson took a deep breath as he locked his Prius and headed towards Saint Margaret's Catholic primary. Would the students like him? What his lessons work out. Would the parents be nice? Did he even know how to be a teacher? This is happening, Tyson thought. Today I'm really a teacher. This wasn't prac. This wasn't even a casual day. This was the first day of his 12 month contract. The first day of his professional career, he hadn't felt like a teacher when he'd graduated from uni, and he hadn't felt like a teacher writing endless job applications, sprinkling in edgy babble like pedagogy and metacognition. Even after he'd received the phone call from Nova, the principal offering him the job, it still hadn't really sunk in. Surely the feeling will come soon. Tyson thought. He would feel like a real teacher any minute now. He would have to. Tyson walked toward the huge school gate. In one hand, he held the oversized key that would open every lock in the facility. In his other hand, he clutched the faux leather satchel that McCullers had bought him the day after graduation.
You'll be a fine teacher. Michalis had said once they returned to the apartment and Tyson had strutted across the lounge room, showcasing all the ways the satchel could be worn. And you certainly look the part. McCullough had added, reaching for Tyson's hand and drawing him close for a kiss.
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And that was the things that matter most. By Gabby Stroud. Gabby is spelled [spells the name]. And that book goes for ten hours and 17 minutes. And this is an author I hadn't heard about. And I'm on her website now, which is just simply gabbystroud.com, and, uh, she is a teacher, a passionate teacher. Gabby has a frequently asked questions section. So, uh, the question was asked, when did you start writing? And she says, I've been writing since I was big enough to reach the pens on the telephone table in my childhood home. Also, another question is where do you get your ideas? It's always interesting to find out how writers come up, you know, use and get their material. And she said, I'm an ideas collector and an eavesdropper and a bit of a spy, too. I'm always observing, and when I notice something interesting or funny or curious or special, I write it down in one of my hundreds of notebooks.
A little bit of, um, synchronicity here. Trent Dalton has reviewed this book and says this is gut wrenching and important real world stuff inside a rattling story that feels like it was lived before it was written. As a parent, it was deeply was a deeply welcome insight into the lives of those noble, flawed, terrified, brave and brilliant individuals who have chosen to devote their evidently harrowing and wondrous working lives to the education of things that matter most to me, my kids. Gabby is a primary school teacher and studied her Masters of Education, specializing in how kids learn to read and write. And again on her website she says, I grew up in a farm in Jindabyne, and some and some mornings our old farmhouse was so cold I would wake up and see my breath puffing out into the icy air. Went to school in Barrie Dale and she's taught in London, England to Toronto, Canada as well as having various gigs around New South Wales, are mostly taught in primary school, but have done some high school stuff as well. And she now lives in Merimbula on the far south coast of New South Wales.
And that brings us to the end of hear This for this week. And I just wanted to mention something exciting coming up later in the month. Vision Australia Radio has signed on as the Melbourne based Queer Arts festival, Mid-Summer inclusion and Access Partner, to offer greater accessibility for people who are blind or who have low vision. This is a 22 day event that attracts an audience of around 120,000, and it is highlight of the queer community, starting off every new year with a great burst of talent and diversity and joy, the station has produced an audio version of the festival's program and will promote audio described shows and related tactile tours in the lead up to and during the festival. This will allow people who are blind or who have low vision to plan their midsummer experience. It's a wonderful time in Melbourne. The opening day of the festival is on January 21st.
Vision Australia's community partnerships coordinator, Jason Gipps, said the partnership was in step with recent listener survey data. Gipps said that the data showed that 27% of the network's audience identified as being part of the diverse Lgbtqia+ community. He says the partnership ensures Vision Australia Radio supports the needs of our dedicated listeners and the community we represent. He also adds it recognises and celebrates the intersection of queerness and blindness and all disability communities, and we're proud of this wonderful opportunity. If you're interested in finding out more about access and the Midsummer Festival and to get a program any information, you can always contact the radio station on one 308 4746. That's one 308 4746. Or you can email radio at Vision Australia. Org that's radio at Vision Australia. Org. And you can always, uh, address your emails. Jason Gibbs, he's the one that has all of the knowledge, um, and he's leading this whole thing. So thank you, Jason. And if you would like to contact the library, if there's any books that you would like to recommend, please feel free to recommend them. We always love your recommendations. The number is one (300) 654-6561 306 54656. Or you can email library at Vision Australia - dot-org... that's library at visionaustralia.org. Have a lovely week and we'll be back next week with more Hear This.
