'Reaching across continents, these allusive, richly textured stories are unified by moments of dislocation in which certainties are eclipsed by unfamiliar terrain. A last, transforming embrace between Indian lovers heralds their separate journeys into arranged marriages; an elderly woman discovers a kinship with her neighbour through their mutual isolation; a young woman's beauty is ravaged by fire; a schoolteacher, fettered by responsibility, learns from her brash students during a Queensland summer heady with the smell of sugar cane; a decaying amaryllis plant mirrors the pain of the artist who obsessively sketches it, and a woman devastated by her friend's death, is shocked by her own secret exultation in living.'
Source: Publisher's blurb (Virago ed.)
'Rainforests evoke vivid imagery; the profusion of intertwined trees and undergrowth both invites and confounds exploration. Acclaimed writer Janette Turner Hospital conjures up a rainforest for readers by weaving threads of connection and meaning into a labyrinth of characters and plot lines. From The Ivory Swing to Orpheus Lost, Hospital's award-winning novels and short stories have challenged and intrigued readers for over twenty-five years. Hospital's books tackle complex themes of dislocation, identity, ethics and the nature of reality, wrapping around a reader like rainforest creepers, remaining attached long after the last page is turned.
In this groundbreaking work of literary criticism, David Callahan signposts and analyses the major themes scattered throughout Janette Turner Hospital's writing. Rainforest Narratives is the perfect companion to her fiction for readers and scholars alike.' -- Publisher description.
'Rainforests evoke vivid imagery; the profusion of intertwined trees and undergrowth both invites and confounds exploration. Acclaimed writer Janette Turner Hospital conjures up a rainforest for readers by weaving threads of connection and meaning into a labyrinth of characters and plot lines. From The Ivory Swing to Orpheus Lost, Hospital's award-winning novels and short stories have challenged and intrigued readers for over twenty-five years. Hospital's books tackle complex themes of dislocation, identity, ethics and the nature of reality, wrapping around a reader like rainforest creepers, remaining attached long after the last page is turned.
In this groundbreaking work of literary criticism, David Callahan signposts and analyses the major themes scattered throughout Janette Turner Hospital's writing. Rainforest Narratives is the perfect companion to her fiction for readers and scholars alike.' -- Publisher description.