image of person or book cover 7963885227262338372.jpg
Cover image courtesy of publisher.
y separately published work icon In My Mother's Hands single work   autobiography  
Note: As Biff Ward.
Issue Details: First known date: 2014... 2014 In My Mother's Hands
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'There are secrets in this family. Before Biff and her younger brother, Mark, there was baby Alison, who drowned in her bath because, it was said, her mother was distracted. Biff too, lives in fear of her mother's irrational behaviour and paranoia, and she is always on guard and fears for the safety of her brother. As Biff grows into teenage hood, there develops a conspiratorial relationship between her and her father, who is a famous and gregarious man, trying to keep his wife's problems a family secret. This was a time when the insane were committed and locked up in Dickensian institutions; whatever his problems her father was desperate to save his wife from that fate. But also to protect his children from the effects of living with a tragically disturbed mother.

'In My Mother's Hands is a beautifully written and emotionally perplexing coming-of-age true story about growing up in an unusual family.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Dedication: For my Father Russel Ward, 1914-1995
  • Epigraph: Eventually we escape the ghosts that haunt us and we become their familiars, at which they lose their terrors for us and are soon our playthings. –Alex Miller, Landscape of Farewell

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2014 .
      image of person or book cover 7963885227262338372.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 280p.
      Description: illus., ports
      Written as: Biff Ward
      Note/s:
      • Published June 2014
      ISBN: 9781743319116

Works about this Work

Acts of Affirmation : An Interview with Biff Ward Nigel Featherstone (interviewer), 2015 single work interview
— Appears in: Verity La , October 2015;
Canberran among 12 on Stella Long List Jason Steger , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 13 February 2015; (p. 3)
Woman in Gloves Sheila Fitzpatrick , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 363 2014; (p. 19)

— Review of In My Mother's Hands Elizabeth Ward , 2014 single work autobiography
Making Peace with Horrors of Childhood Helen Crompton , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 22 July 2014; (p. 7)

— Review of In My Mother's Hands Elizabeth Ward , 2014 single work autobiography
Biff Ward : In My Mother's Hands Kylie Mason , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , June 2014;

— Review of In My Mother's Hands Elizabeth Ward , 2014 single work autobiography
Making Peace with Horrors of Childhood Helen Crompton , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 22 July 2014; (p. 7)

— Review of In My Mother's Hands Elizabeth Ward , 2014 single work autobiography
Woman in Gloves Sheila Fitzpatrick , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 363 2014; (p. 19)

— Review of In My Mother's Hands Elizabeth Ward , 2014 single work autobiography
Biff Ward : In My Mother's Hands Kylie Mason , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , June 2014;

— Review of In My Mother's Hands Elizabeth Ward , 2014 single work autobiography
Canberran among 12 on Stella Long List Jason Steger , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 13 February 2015; (p. 3)
Acts of Affirmation : An Interview with Biff Ward Nigel Featherstone (interviewer), 2015 single work interview
— Appears in: Verity La , October 2015;
Last amended 23 Mar 2021 09:29:11
X