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y separately published work icon In the Blue House single work   novel   historical fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 2001... 2001 In the Blue House
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'This breathtaking first novel explores Leon Trotsky and his wife's years of Mexican exile in the home of Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera. Mingled with the voices of Stalin's desolate young wife and that of Trotsky himself are the tales of the lesser known who have also created history–the Mexican artist who foretells Trotsky's death; a Bolshevik engineer surviving the chill of the Stalinist regime; the bodyguard who is unable to prevent the assassination. Together, the stories reveal the panorama of Russian history, revolution, and upheaval in the twentieth century.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Exhibitions

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Bloomsbury ,
      2001 .
      image of person or book cover 5060891563191339101.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 320p.
      ISBN: 0747553599 (pbk.), 0747552363 (hbk.)
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      St. Martin's Press ,
      2002 .
      image of person or book cover 5813292857750003015.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Alternative title: In the Casa Azul : A Novel of Revolution and Betrayal
      Extent: 308p.
      Edition info: 1st U.S. ed.
      ISBN: 031229106X
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Picador ,
      2003 .
      image of person or book cover 4420154674010212418.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Alternative title: In the Casa Azul : A Novel of Revolution and Betrayal
      Extent: 308p.
      ISBN: 0312291078
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Untapped , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 3282200761610439189.png
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      ISBN: 9781922730756
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Brio Books ; Untapped , 2022 .
      image of person or book cover 6766383042572041151.png
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 289p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 30 August 2022.
      ISBN: 9781761281723

Works about this Work

The Internationalists : Australian Writers and Contemporary Greece Anne Pender , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 19 no. 1 2019;

'The expatriate Europeans, Australians, New Zealanders and Americans who lived on the Greek island of Hydra in the 1950s and ’60s were a mix of fiction writers, poets, musicians, painters, journalists and photographers. Politically, many of them would have described themselves as internationalists. George Johnston wrote his novel My Brother Jack (1964) while he and Charmian Clift lived on Hydra, and with it he said he rediscovered Australia.

'The contemporary Australian writers Susan Johnson and Meaghan Delahunt have each been inspired in their own work by the fiction and memoir of Johnston and Clift. Both Johnson and Delahunt have spent long periods of their lives as expatriates themselves, living in the UK and other parts of Europe. In spite of the achievements of Johnson and Delahunt as novelists, their writing has been largely overlooked by critics. This article examines their work in relation to expatriatism, internationalism and the politics of contemporary Europe.

'The article examines Susan Johnson’s reimagining of the lives of George Johnston and Charmian Clift in The Broken Book (2004) in 2019, 50 years after Clift’s death. It also explores Delahunt’s To the Island (2011), which is set on Naxos. The essay articulates the ways in which Johnson and Delahunt have internationalised Australian literature as a direct result of their expatriate experiences.' (Publication abstract)

In the Red House Frances Atkinson , 2001 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: The Age , 14 July 2001; (p. 7)
Bits and Pieces Katharine England , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 16 June 2001; (p. 19)

— Review of In the Blue House Meaghan Delahunt , 2001 single work novel ; Agapanthus Tango David Francis , 2001 single work novel
Repercussions Through Trotsky's Blue Eyes Hamilton Smith , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: Canberra Sunday Times , 20 May 2001; (p. 55)

— Review of In the Blue House Meaghan Delahunt , 2001 single work novel
Tangos, Tangles, Love and Pain Thuy On , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 19 May 2001; (p. 9)

— Review of Agapanthus Tango David Francis , 2001 single work novel ; In the Blue House Meaghan Delahunt , 2001 single work novel
Far Horizons Peter Pierce , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 15 May vol. 119 no. 6274 2001; (p. 72-74)

— Review of Hell Has Harbour Views Richard Beasley , 2001 single work novel ; The Nether Regions Sue Gough , 2001 single work novel ; The Architect : A Tale John Scott , 2001 single work novel ; Cafe Scheherazade Arnold Zable , 2001 single work novel ; In the Blue House Meaghan Delahunt , 2001 single work novel ; Arriving at Night Lisa Merrifield , 2001 single work novel ; The Correspondence Course Max Sollitt , 2001 single work novel ; The Weight of the Sun Andrew Humphreys , 2001 single work novel
Seduction's in the Air in Quest for Global Money Kerryn Goldsworthy , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 12-13 May 2001; (p. 12-13)

— Review of Agapanthus Tango David Francis , 2001 single work novel ; In the Blue House Meaghan Delahunt , 2001 single work novel
Tangos, Tangles, Love and Pain Thuy On , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 19 May 2001; (p. 9)

— Review of Agapanthus Tango David Francis , 2001 single work novel ; In the Blue House Meaghan Delahunt , 2001 single work novel
Repercussions Through Trotsky's Blue Eyes Hamilton Smith , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: Canberra Sunday Times , 20 May 2001; (p. 55)

— Review of In the Blue House Meaghan Delahunt , 2001 single work novel
Bits and Pieces Katharine England , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 16 June 2001; (p. 19)

— Review of In the Blue House Meaghan Delahunt , 2001 single work novel ; Agapanthus Tango David Francis , 2001 single work novel
In the Red House Frances Atkinson , 2001 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: The Age , 14 July 2001; (p. 7)
The Internationalists : Australian Writers and Contemporary Greece Anne Pender , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 19 no. 1 2019;

'The expatriate Europeans, Australians, New Zealanders and Americans who lived on the Greek island of Hydra in the 1950s and ’60s were a mix of fiction writers, poets, musicians, painters, journalists and photographers. Politically, many of them would have described themselves as internationalists. George Johnston wrote his novel My Brother Jack (1964) while he and Charmian Clift lived on Hydra, and with it he said he rediscovered Australia.

'The contemporary Australian writers Susan Johnson and Meaghan Delahunt have each been inspired in their own work by the fiction and memoir of Johnston and Clift. Both Johnson and Delahunt have spent long periods of their lives as expatriates themselves, living in the UK and other parts of Europe. In spite of the achievements of Johnson and Delahunt as novelists, their writing has been largely overlooked by critics. This article examines their work in relation to expatriatism, internationalism and the politics of contemporary Europe.

'The article examines Susan Johnson’s reimagining of the lives of George Johnston and Charmian Clift in The Broken Book (2004) in 2019, 50 years after Clift’s death. It also explores Delahunt’s To the Island (2011), which is set on Naxos. The essay articulates the ways in which Johnson and Delahunt have internationalised Australian literature as a direct result of their expatriate experiences.' (Publication abstract)

Awards

2002 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Christina Stead Prize for Fiction
2002 winner Commonwealth Writers Prize South-East Asia and South Pacific First Work of Fiction
Last amended 15 May 2024 11:37:25
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