Cirrus@Austlit

'Kathryn Purnell's narrative poem is filled with beautiful, evocative imagery. The reader is taken on a tour of discovery, a wonderful journey in the style of an epic as the ghost of Louis XIV of France, also known as the Sun King, reflects on his life and loves. Emotions spanning joy, anger and remorse are called up as Louis reminisces on many facets of his long life, his wives, mistresses, and children. He talks of the architects with whom he designed and built Versailles and the Orangerie he loved, the animals of his menagerie, the gardeners with whom he sparred, arguing his love for the beauty of flowers against their practical desire to grow more vegetables. Louis' ghost is critical, too, of the failure of great men of the 20^th century who negotiated bad treaties in his palace, while acknowledging modern technological developments allowing his music to be reproduced. The Orangerie was his sanctuary from the stresses of both state and family. This wonderful poem will have the reader seeking to know more of this flawed but remarkable man.' (Publication summary)

'Love, marriage and divorce are universal themes that unite and divide families in the urban forest. In Melbourne, early during the second half of the 20th Century, The Shorman and Carlister families are both facing the pressures of societal change: older family males still believed in the patriarchal past while young adult offspring are finding new freedoms at university and beyond. When Mim Shorman returns from an overseas trip she was not, as expected, accompanied by her adopted daughter Eliane. Why, she declines to elaborate and to help control her emotions immerses herself in her painting. Around her, family members react to her failure to renew her role as put upon wife and mother. Paul Carlister is going out with Barbi Shorman, His brother Mark, seeking work overseas, has left his wife Ruth and baby Rollo behind. The highly intelligent Sims Flavin, who boards in Richmond with “old digger” Sarge, seems apart, or perhaps above it all. Or is he? Barbi’s twin sister Henrietta seems intent on marrying a rather handsome young man with few prospects. But these relationships are put to the test and when a letter arrives from Paris new stresses appear. There has already been one divorce and a shipboard romance. Is another divorce to happen? No fault divorce, after all, is still some years away. And what secret lies behind Mim Shorman’s special relationship with Eliane? As the details emerge and tragedy strikes old Sarge, Paul has an accident and relationships are rearranged. At least the young adults can go forward unbound by the societal constraints of the past.'   (Publication summary)

'Elm Tree Terrace, a London boarding house, is host to an odd collection of guests. Could it be the scene for mystery, or a nascent love affair? After a chance meeting with a stranger at Australia House, Colin Jepson a young graduate from Sydney turns up unannounced to look for a room. Mary Mercy the young woman who checks his references puzzles Colin: she is not English, but perhaps European, yet her dress belies this. Colin is entranced by her eyes, which bear the colour of a lion’s. The other guests at the boarding house fit their stereotypes: a middle-aged school teacher from Scotland and a couple visiting from Adelaide. The boarding house manager, Mr Suddern, seems out of place, perhaps an ex Army type with a penchant for alcohol. Huston, his business partner, is suave with an air of mystery. He has connections to Africa. Colin takes a bus ride with Mary, ending up at London zoo. She tells him of her youth growing up in the Belgian Congo, and of her strange relationship with Huston.  The happiness of her ailing grandfather, confined to his room at Elm Tree Terrace, is important to her. Could there be blackmail involved? Colin and the man from Adelaide, with very different objectives, hatch a plan together. When Huston demands Colin give up his room, and an eminent physician comes to dinner the truth behind the Adelaide man and Huston is revealed.'   (Publication summary)