Grafton Books Grafton Books i(A38230 works by) (Organisation) assertion
Born: Established: ca. 1981 London,
c
England,
c
c
United Kingdom (UK),
c
Western Europe, Europe, ;
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.

Works By

Preview all
1 2 y separately published work icon Love Down Under James Leasor , London : HarperCollins Australia , 1992 Z126961 1992 single work novel crime detective mystery A grateful patient leaves Dr Jason Love an unusual legacy, a conditional sum of money which is to be spent on a trip to Australia. The trip takes him from Ayers Rock to Cairns trying to unravel a secret hidden for many years.
1 1 y separately published work icon The Diary of Elizabeth Pepys Dale Spender , London : Grafton Books , 1991 Z281786 1991 single work novel historical fiction
1 y separately published work icon Iditarod Andre Jute , London : Grafton Books , 1990 Z1069849 1990 single work novel
1 y separately published work icon The Quiet Place Richard Maynard , London : Souvenir Press , 1987 Z240282 1987 single work novel science fiction ' In this science-fiction thriller, the second novel by the Australian writer Richard Maynard, seven astronauts leave Earth in search of life on other planets. They have no reason to believe that their society's social and technological development will not continue to flourish. After spending 15 years in space, they know that much more time - perhaps as much as several centuries - has passed on Earth, yet still they expect a warm welcome home. Instead they discover that in their absence man has devolved to a level of prehistoric savagery. Presented as a memoir by the spaceship's captain, 'The Return' chronicles the men's adventures as they struggle to retain a trace of civilization in a ruthless land where only the strong survive. In the process, scenes of ritual human sacrifice and cannibalism are juxtaposed with glimpses of great pastoral beauty; as the men move through the countryside, abandoned, overgrown cities loom as symbols of their lost greatness. At the same time, the astronauts' attempts to discover the cause of mankind's decline is central to the story's momentum. The solution they finally piece together is an ironic one, with a terrifying implied threat to the future of today's world. ''The Return'' is gripping in its portrayal of seven men trapped in a place that is both familiar and horrifyingly unfamiliar. More than that, it is a chilling vignette of an all too plausible fate that may await us.' Sharon Shervington, 'In Short; Fiction', New York Times (21.8.1988)
1 18 y separately published work icon Billarooby Jim Anderson , New York (City) : Ticknor and Fields , 1988 Z413148 1988 single work novel

'After the mysterious death of his grandfather, 11-year-old Lindsay Armstrong and his family leave England for a new life in New South Wales. Property is bought in remote Billarooby, a small settlement on the Lachlan River. It is 1942. The war is far away, but a stranger the boy chases from the farm, turns out to be a young Japanese soldier escaped from a nearby POW camp. His witness of the brutal recapture of the prisoner, triggers the horrific memory of a festering family secret involving both himself and his tyrannical father. The trouble in Billarooby has just begun. Lindsay acquires a picture book about ancient samurai warriors and their Code of Bushido. He comes to believe that the prisoners wish for nothing but to re-join the Emperor and regain their honour, something he feels is lacking in the local world that surrounds him.

'Lindsay is not the only one obsessed with the prisoners. The district's paranoid fantasies of mass escape are decidedly blacker than Lindsay's imaginings. Racial tensions erupt as the great drought grips and threatens to destroy the once flourishing farm. Vigilantism combined with inability to tackle the truth about the Armstrong family's darkest past, drive Lindsay's parents to desperate measures and bouts of madness. For Lindsay, it's a coming-of-age of great poignancy as the story reaches its climax on the dried-up river bed of the Lachlan.' (Publication summary)
5 37 y separately published work icon The Sea and Summer Drowning Towers George Turner , London Boston : Faber , 1987 Z401831 1987 single work novel science fiction 'Francis Conway is Swill—one of the millions in the year 2041 who must subsist on the inadequate charities of the state. Life, already difficult, is rapidly becoming impossible for Francis and others like him, as government corruption, official blindness and nature have conspired to turn Swill homes into watery tombs. And now the young boy must find a way to escape the approaching tide of disaster'. Source: bookseller's website.
1 y separately published work icon The Dirty Movie Book : A No-Holds-Barred, Searing, Blistering Expose of the Corrupt, Bloated Underbelly of the Film Industry, Guaranteed to Be Absolutely Fact-Free John Brosnan , London : Grafton Books , 1988 Z809385 1988 single work
1 10 y separately published work icon A Chelsea Girl Barbara Hanrahan , London : Grafton Books , 1988 Z378139 1988 single work novel historical fiction
1 9 y separately published work icon Warm Bodies Anne Derwent , North Ryde : Angus and Robertson , 1986 Z32038 1986 single work novel
1 7 y separately published work icon Dream People : Stories Barbara Hanrahan , London : Grafton Books , 1987 Z146572 1987 selected work short story
2 1 y separately published work icon Worm Simon Ian Childer , London : Grafton Books , 1987 Z809376 1987 single work novel science fiction
2 1 y separately published work icon Tendrils Simon Ian Childer , London : Grafton Books , 1986 Z809373 1986 single work novel science fiction
2 1 y separately published work icon Torched! James Blackstone , London : Grafton Books , 1986 Z804283 1986 single work novel horror
10 87 y separately published work icon The Year of Living Dangerously Christopher Koch , West Melbourne : Nelson , 1978 Z493822 1978 single work novel (taught in 2 units)

'The charismatic god-king Sukarno has brought Indonesia to the edge of chaos - to an abortive revolution that will leave half a million dead. For the Western correspondents here, this gathering apocalypse is their story and their drug, while the sufferings of the Indonesian people are scarcely real: a shadow play. Working at the eye of the storm are television correspondent Guy Hamilton and his eccentric cameraman Billy Kwan. In Kwan's secret fantasy life, both Sukarno and Hamilton are heroes. But his heroes betray him, and Billy is driven to desperate action. As the Indonesian shadow play erupts into terrible reality, a complex personal tragedy of love, obsession and betrayal comes to its climax.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.
8 60 y separately published work icon The Doubleman Christopher Koch , London : Chatto and Windus , 1985 Z388681 1985 single work novel (taught in 8 units)

'Clive Broderick, guitar-teacher and occultist - the Doubleman of the title of this acclaimed novel - is speaking of power, and of a realm beyond reality. This is a fable of the sixties, when shared belief-systems crumbled, and the spiritual bazaars of today opened up. Christopher Koch's theme is illusion; and all his characters are bound by it. The Rymers are an electric folk group enjoying mounting success in Sydney. Their producer, Richard Miller, came under Broderick's spell during his youth in Tasmania; so did the guitarists Brady and Burr. Now, years after his death, Broderick's presence remains with all three. Through his disciple, Burr, it will lead to nightmare.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (HarperCollins, 2013 ed.)
X