"The 1980s were shaped by Reaganomics, Thatcherism and a‘‘greed is good’’ excuse to be selfish, but this quietly impressive first novel stays inside a marginalised culture of the time: caravan park long-stay residents,with their self-conscious pride and brooding resentments.

Elsie and Sterling are set in their ways, and sure of their love for each other. Sterling is handsome, enjoying the approval and company of other women, but remains touchingly loyal to Elsie, who works as a barmaid, grieving a brief memory of the baby she was forced to give up by attitudes steeped in 1950s morality. (The chapter epigraphs quoting women’s magazines of the time are cringingly hilarious.)

When a young woman turns up claiming to be her daughter, Elsie is forced to reconcile the past. Recommended."
- Ian MacFarlane, Sunday Canberra Times 2 March 2008.

"Vinyl Inside also enjoys the riddle of love. Like (Toni) Jordan Matthews manages to avoid the customary cynicism that tends these days to come standard with writing about matters of the heart. The book ventures into complex emotional territory but does so with a gentle belief that life’s burdens can shift into more comfortable positions … Matthews’ recreation of Elsie’s family is poignant and the portrait of her bewildered father is exquisite, especially at a time after the birth when Elsie joins him playing lawn bowls. Matthews uses details of consumer culture to draw the lines between different eras: Sterl wears Blue Stratos and her dad wears Old Spice.

Eventually, Elsie’s child, Dania, now an adult comes looking for her birth mother in Splashes. The sorest point of the story is that, in ten years of partnership, Elsie has not been bale to tell Sterl about her child. Sterl wanted kids of his own. But this earthy couple communicates brilliantly about anything that does not matter. They aren’t so good on the big stuff.

Toni Jordan and Rachel Matthews are writers of generous spirit. If sometimes their worlds are less clouded than the real one, the result is anything but disappointment."
- Michael McGirr, The Age 23 February 2008.

 

"An earthy first novel, Vinyl Inside follows Elsie and Sterling as they, well, go nowhere in particular. Touchingly in love, they're living quietly in a caravan park when a blast from Elsie's past -- the daughter she gave up as a teenager -- interrupts their rosy routine.

Rachel Matthews has a nice ear for dialogue and creates a warm and witty little piece of Australiana here.

Sterling and Elsie are the sort of characters other authors make fun of, but Matthews shows them the respect they deserve. In a word: affectionate."
- Claire Sutherland, Herald Sun 5 January 2008.

"Vinyl Inside, Rachel Matthews’ debut novel, is the honest and quietly assertive story of Elsie, a middle-aged woman living a simple life with her long-time partner Sterling (a stud in Speedos), in Splashes, a typically Australian caravan park. Their life rolls along like the dusty highway until one day the daughter Elsie gave away in her teens—a daughter Sterling knew nothing about—tracks her down. What follows is an amusing and idiosyncratic look into relationships and their evolution in the face of Elsie’s haunting and hurtful past.

This tale is readable and enjoyable, but there is a slight sense of awkwardness preventing you from totally believing the story. There is also an overabundance of sidelining subjects that we only skim the surface of. However, some truly touching moments maintain the tale’s appeal.

Matthews delicately explores the idea of what a mother is and should be, and plays with themes of loss, regret and abandonment in an authentic and graceful way. The segments describing Elsie’s youth are particularly beautiful as they capture and convey the intensity and fragility of young womanhood.

Women readers and fans of unique Australian fiction, and of authors like Rebecca Sparrow, will enjoy this story. Vinyl Inside’s whimsical feel and the warm, likeable characters are what will keep readers interested until the surprising and cleverly gentle ending."
- Lucy Meredith, Bookseller and Publisher October 2007.

"In the 1980s Elsie and Sterling live at Splashes, a caravan park.Then, after 20 long years, Elsie's daughter turns up, and there are a whole lot of adjustments to be made. The period, its culture and inocence is brought delightfully to life, and the characters are rich, real and (mostly) lovable. Long ago quotes from Aussie women's mags at the start of each chapter are a reminder of a very different time in our history..."
- Julie Redlich,Woman’s Day 14 January 2008.

"Its greatest strength lies in its protagonist, whose personal journey shows a tender, fragile and hopeful side to humanity. Less a history of the great war and more the history of a woman affected by the great war, this is a gentle, simple and straightforward book."
- Reg Domingo, Good Reading March 2008.

 

"Peter McConnell portrays one woman's life as a microcosm of war. Fortunately for potential readers, Peter McConnell and his publisher have decided to tack "a novel" to the title of his book, otherwise A History of the Great War would almost certainly have been filed neatly away in the non-fiction section. All the same, it's an ambitious title for a modest book. Then again, maybe that was the point.

McConnell's focus is the life of one woman, Ida Mitton. Her story is told against a backdrop of pre and post-World War I and II. As the tumult, destruction and deaths begat by the killing fields are too enormous a topic to deal with, McConnell narrows his approach to just a single individual to show how much damage is caused. Set in sleepy Bairnsdale, the narrative follows prim and mousy Ida as she meets her beloved Ralph, but before the knot is tied, war breaks out.

Ralph enlists because "the Empire needed all its sons and daughters to rally with brave hearts".
Later, injured and shellshocked, the serviceman returns to civilian life with all illusions of the grandeur and majesty of war shattered forever. Ida, meanwhile, copes as all left behind must cope, with stoicism and quiet forbearance.

Despite its subject matter, this is a gentle love story. McConnell forgoes all the grisly details of wholesale massacre, concentrating instead on the small happenings of a small country town.

Hence, there's talk of the making of lace, of horses being shod, and of dancing in woolshed balls."
- Thuy On, The Age 4 February 2008.

"McConnell’s strong imagery of the Gippsland countryside is beguiling and the addition of the character of Ida’s son Edward is a breath of fresh air."
- Katie Horner, Bookseller and Publisher October 2007.

"It is a stylish, sophisticated thriller that is not afraid to take on the big issues … Alice’s quest for her fugitive past and for possible reconciliation with Lucy works marvelously as a personal story of self-discovery while engaging with the public debate that necessarily follows in the wake of scientific advancement."
- Liam Davison, The Australian.

"This is real page turner - you cant’ help but warm to Alice and feel involved in her adventures. Highly recommended for those who like their thrillers served with a twist." ****
- Kabita Dhara, Bookseller and Publisher.

"The Asking Game is a teaser of a novel."
- Thuy On, The Age.

"Intelligent and curiously affecting."
- Ian Mc Farlane, The Canberra Times.

"Like fugitives fleeing an unforgiving city, poets Cyril Wong and Terry Jaensch throw a long lingering look at the site of their banishment, proffering love letters tinged with anger and incomprehension."
- June Cheong, The Sunday Times (Singapore).

"Wong brings a knack for evoking emotion to the project which when combined with Jaensch’s ability to manipulate language and imagery, creates a collection of isolated pieces that form a collective sense of loneliness and searching."
- Megan Smith, Out Magazine (Perth).

"A collaboration between Aussie actor-poet Terry Jaensch and local poet Cyril Wong, Excess Baggage & Claim combines the richness of poetry with the accessibility of narrative … the book best read late at night, is a good choice if you’re looking for poignant , as well as juicy, erotic passages that evoke your past loves."
- Ng Hui Hsien, IS Magazine (Singapore).

"The publication of Excess Baggage & Claim is, for me, a momentous occasion.

Momentous because it represents a personal and artistic triumph for Terry and Cyril, who were introduced by a mutual friend; who corresponded for a year and a half via email as they discussed the project; and who hammered out much of the book's themes, voices and structures in a passionate four months in Singapore, which Terry visited as the result of an Asialink residency.

Momentous because it represents a remarkable cross-cultural fusion - both artistically, and politically. It is an act of creation, and a rejection of the values of Pauline Hanson and others of her ilk - including our own Prime Minister, who in 1988, in opposition, talked openly of too many Asian immigrants spoiling Australia's 'social cohesion'.

Momentous because it explores gay love and desire in a country where, only a decade ago, Cyril's first book was heavily censored by Singapore's National Arts Council because of its prevalence of gay themes.

Just as one of its characters seeks to 'cultivate one authentic self from a series of predictabilities', Cyril and Terry have strived - successfully, in my eyes - to create a work of art which is larger than both of them.

It is a collection of poems which evokes the human spirit's ability to engage with past betrayals we might once have shied away from, considered unspeakable:

'father upon me, whispering:
Don't worry, don't move, this won't hurt, ok?'

It is a collection of poems which do more than touch upon our intimate fears as we 'lie in bed waiting for the dark to lift', and which are about far more than just gay men, gay sex, and one man's romantic love for another.

Excess Baggage & Claim is a dialogue; an affair; an engagement with senses and sensation. It is a revelation. It is both painful and beautiful. It is a romance - flawed, like so many romances - and a romance with literature, a love of words, carefully written and placed."

- Richard Watts, Melbourne launch, fortyfivedownstairs, 4th June 2007.
Full speech available at: http://richard_watts.blogspot.com

"Good short stories are completed in one sitting, yet open up characters, insights and places that entertain and enrich us. Gallois’s collection does this … at her best she is breath-catching. If this engaging collection does not send more Aussies to the subcontinent, very little else will."
- Barbara Baker, Courier Mail.

"This collection of stories is a stylish debut. Gallois writes with clever economy, giving the reader brisk lessons in culture, history and social anomalies, rarely stalling her narrative in the process … The two strongest pieces – The Colour of Coral and Fatherland – are all about yearning, the former for forbidden love, the latter for an unknown father."
- Susan Kurosawa, The Australian.

"The most successful stories are those of muted disappointment: ‘The Colour of Coral’, narrated by an elderly Australian who attempts to reach across the cultural divide between herself and her Indian friend, or ‘Box Wallah’, in which a once-respected gentleman suffers deep humiliation after the departure of the British. Gallois is an acute observer and writes in a clean accessible prose … She draws her characters swiftly and efficiently and their stories are told without authorial judgement. An enjoyable collection."
- Caroline Lurie, Good Reading.

"Her stories are little gems."
- Indian Link.

"There is a refreshing lack of sentimentality and stereotypes in Gallois’s stories. An individual and confident voice, she often challenges assumptions, sometimes distorting the lens through which the West views ‘India’."
- Kabita Dhara, Australian Book Review.

"So many books are described as inspirational. Emails from the Edge is of a different order of magnitude altogether. Haley’s unique personal story aside, it is also an excellent travel book."
- Owen Richardson, The Age.

"Haley writes with engrossing insight, intellect, and wit. Few downers are this uplifting"
- MX.

"The trick all good travel writers manage is to convince the reader that they are travelling along with them. Grumpy Paul Theroux does this superbly and Haley, needing help every step of the way and frequently frustrated, pulls it off too. He does this so well that I, as a soft traveller, breathed a sigh of relief when he leaves behind the trials (and many kindnesses) he encountered in the Middle East and makes it to Europe."
- Peter Corris, The Australian.

"His compelling account “of rolling around the axis of evil post 9/11” is part travelogue, part social commentary and a moving personal memoir of his bravest journey back from a suicide attempt that crippled his body, but not his spirit."
- Herald Sun Sunday Magazine.

"The writing is edgy and oozes honesty, and Haley’s self deprecating sense of humour left me in stitches as he cavorts into dangerous ‘no go’ zones, mistakenly gets arrested as a terrorist in Syria and meets an Osama bin Laden lookalike in a Teheran bazaar. I burnt the midnight oil reading this book. What I most admired were his guts and determination to make the most of what life has to offer – and that is a true inspiration."
- Good Reading.

"an eloquent portrait of how lived experience can inform and alter a person’s intellectual and spiritual alignment … a profound and evocative document of a particular place"
- Kate McFadyen, Australian Book Review.

"its sharp humanitarian edge gives it a bold uniqueness"
- Erin O’Brien, Australian Bookseller and Publisher.

"Material poverty does not mean spiritual poverty, and Kennedy’s sojourn overseas made her see Australia with new critical insight. Sing is evocatively written and recommended if you want to think about the world."
- Lucy Sussex, The Age.

"keenly felt, adeptly recorded detail… a sensual touching evocation of Mexican landscape and nature"
- Mark Thomas, The Canberra Times.

"each poem is a tantalising dream … a tribute from one restless, searching artist to another, yet points to a problem commonly human and genuinely spiritual, with flair—with some fine, assured art."
- Kerry Leves, Overland.

"A book for someone who loves travel and travels with love, poems filled with startling lines and images that move with grace and trueness and some element of gentle ache amid it all, like 'grain broken on the road of chance'. It's this mystery of involvement that Scott celebrates with tenderness and heartfelt surrender ... How close it all feels."
- Mark Mordue, author of 'Dastgah: Diary of a Headtrip'.

"Beautiful… obscure… touching…the old superimposed on the new. The poems can be read and reread, in and out of order, as a philosophy on the art of travel and the nature of dislocation."
- Claudia Hyles, The Canberra Times.

"Consistently original and beautifully rendererd….Buy this haunting volume to take on the road and plunge into during moments of solitude."
- Susan Kurosawa,The Australian.

"From money and Khao San Rd to beaches and buddhas, the themes and subject matter are as varied and all-encompassing as the experiences of travelling… a welcome alternative."
- Rosalyn Page, Australian Gourmet Traveller.

"Finely crafted poems of a world closely observed and richly explored … a spiritual journey."
- Paul Grover, Studio.

 

"Gathering our strength, we trekked on down the narrow glacial valley and by early afternoon had made it to the alpine slopes of the Ruinsara Valley.Our camp was a pure delight. The wildflowers had already burst into bloom and yellow fields of anemone spread beyond the camp, while clusters of tiny purple gentians lit up the meadow and clumps of white saxifrage and the delicate mauve and red primulae clung to the banks of the watercourse.

All most readers of good travel books want is a genuinely informative, vicarious experience of the adventures of the writer. This is precisely what Weare has done in this remarkable book.

Weare has a deep knowledge of the Himalaya. He first went there in 1970, is a life member of the Himalaya Club, wrote the first edition of Lonely Planet's Trekking in the Indian Himalaya, led small trekking parties into the mountains from 1976 to 1989 and joined Australian Himalayan Expeditions in 1974. He is uniquely qualified to write about the region.

The story is simple. Weare, who now lives in the NSW Southern Highlands, decided that rather than a short trek leading a group he wanted to take a long trek by himself. He wanted to trek "from the source of the Ganges to the Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh. But why stop there, I mused? Why not continue and trek all the way to Kashmir?" He worked out that the journey would involve walking 2500 kilometres, most of it above 5000 metres and crossing at least 20 passes.

He decided it would take five months and that he would not try to break any records. He was a 55-year-old man who enjoyed trekking and he was going to enjoy walking through some of the most amazing countryside on the planet.Almost coincidentally, Weare happens to be a damned fine writer; for those who will never gasp in wonder at the beauty of the Himalaya, this is a superb evocation of an unforgettable experience."
- Bruce Elder,Sydney Morning Herald and The Age 17 November, 2007.

"Garry Weare and the Himalayas had a difficult start. On his first trek there, to Kashmir on the India-Pakistan border in 1973, he was arrested and jailed. It didn't put him off: Weare led walks in the region for 13 years and wrote a Lonely Planet guidebook.

The five-month, 2500km trek on which this book is based was eight years from idea to conception. In May 2003, with a cook and secret stash of rum and whisky, he finally set off from Gaumukh, India, the sacred source of the Ganges, for Gangabal Lake in Kashmir, where the author has a houseboat.

Weare tells his story in a straightforward manner, with none of the high dramas (often imagined) that can accompany this sort of book, and it's all the better for that. It allows the tale to unfold without gloss.

Weare , who lost 15kg during the trip, is English but lives in the NSW southern highlands. You wonder how he could settle down to a normal life after this amazing experience."
- Mark Mordue, author of 'Dastgah: Diary of a Headtrip'.