Cirrus@Austlit

'London, 1908. It’s the dawn of a new century and change is in the air.

'When 17-year-old Beatrice Taylor stumbles across the offices of the infamous Pankhursts and the Women’s Social and Political Union she begins to realise her future may not be the one she wants.

'Her friend Catherine Dawson is too pragmatic to get caught up in the women’s suffrage movement. Despite Oxford refusing to award women degrees she is determined to keep apace with her twin brother and pursue a career in science.

'Meanwhile, Ida Bennett, recently promoted to head wardress of DX wing at Holloway Prison, has her work cut out for her. The suffragette inmates are refusing to be treated like criminals—and Ida's not having any of it.

'This is the story of three women whose lives become entwined—with the burgeoning women’s movement and with each other. Like Fire-Hearted Suns shows how much things have changed for women—and how much they stay the same.'  (Publication summary)

'A Lasting Conversation: Stories on Ageing explores many aspects of ageing including resilience and defeat, satisfaction and regret, excitement and fear, love, loss and laughter. These stories are written from various perspectives, including older women and men, their daughters and sons, grandchildren and observers. They present a fascinating picture of what it is to grow old as an Australian. Each story is infused with acute observations and wry humour.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'With a hint of a sorrow akin to regret it is often noted that Amy Witting only received public recognition and critical acclaim for her work towards the end of her life. Her late blooming is usually accounted for with mention of how the pressures of a teaching career and the responsibilities of bringing up a family stymied her creative out put in a manner not unusual for women, then and now. The truth, as it so often is, is a little more complicated.' (Introduction)

'Lotte is an astronomer who spends her nights peering into deep space rather than looking too closely at herself. When she returns to her hometown after years in South America, reeling from a devastating diagnosis, she finds that much has changed. Lotte’s father has remarried, and she feels like an outsider in the house she grew up in. She’s estranged from her former best friend, Eve, who is busy with her own life, and unsure of how to recover the closeness they once shared. Initially, Lotte's return causes disharmony, but then it is the catalyst for a much more devastating event — an event that will change Lotte and Eve's lives forever.

'If families are like solar systems — bodies that orbit in time with one another, sometimes close and sometimes far away — what is the force that drives them? And what are the consequences when the weight of one planet tugs others off course?

'The long-awaited second novel from the award-winning Melanie Joosten, Gravity Well is a striking and tender tale of friendship and family: both the family we are born to, and the family we choose. Deeply compassionate and profoundly moving, it is a heartrending portrait of how we rebuild when the worst has happened.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'This collection of thought-provoking essays explores what it means to grow old in our youth-obsessed world.

'Improved health care and increased standards of living mean that each generation is living longer than the last. Rather than heralding this as a success, governments see our ageing population as an imminent disaster and old age as a medical problem. In response, we are encouraged to remain active, stay healthy and work longer — in short, to refuse becoming old. But if living longer is really about staying young, do we risk turning a blind eye to issues facing the elderly?

'Written with intelligence and compassion, Joosten’s pieces consider the housing crisis as it affects older people, the politics of nursing-home care, the realities of dementia, and women’s changing relationship to their bodies as they age. Weaving interviews with research and personal essay, Joosten undertakes a timely and clearsighted investigation into what it means to age in a world focused on the young. Arguing that every one of us has the right to be old while maintaining integrity, these essays ask us to reconsider our individual and collective experiences to find meaning and come to terms with growing old.' (Publication summary)

'Ageing needs to be treated as a state of living rather than failing, argues Melanie Joosten in this extract from her new book'

''If you could just fill out this form with your contact details and those of your referees. Pass the rest along.' The woman handed a sheaf of papers to the couple standing at her front door...'

'2006, Berlin. The once-divided city still holds its share of secrets.

'One afternoon, near the tourist trap of Checkpoint Charlie, Clare meets Andi. He's a native Berliner and English teacher; she's an architectural photographer who has taken leave from her job in Australia to travel through Eastern Europe. There is an instant attraction, and when Andi invites her to stay, Clare thinks she may finally have found somewhere to call home.

'But as the days pass and the walls of Andi's apartment close in, Clare begins to wonder if it's really love that Andi is after ... or something more sinister.' (From the publisher's website.)