y separately published work icon Palais des Nations series - author   novel   historical fiction  
Alternative title: Edith Campbell Berry Trilogy; Edith Trilogy
Issue Details: First known date: 1993... 1993 Palais des Nations
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Includes

1
y separately published work icon Grand Days Frank Moorhouse , Chippendale : Pan Macmillan Australia , 1993 Z113558 1993 single work novel historical fiction On a train from Paris to Geneva, Edith Campbell Berry meets Major Ambrose Westwood in the dining car, makes his acquaintance over a lunch of six courses, and allows him to kiss her passionately. Their early intimacy binds them together once they reach Geneva and their posts at the newly created League of Nations. There, a heady idealism prevails over Edith and her young colleagues, and nothing seems beyond their grasp, certainly not world peace. The exuberance of the times carries over into Geneva nights: Edith is drawn into a dark and glamorous underworld where, coaxed by Ambrose, she becomes more and more sexually adventurous. (Source: Publisher's website)
2
y separately published work icon Dark Palace Frank Moorhouse , Milsons Point : Knopf , 2000 Z668779 2000 single work novel historical fiction

'Winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award.

'Five years have passed since Edith Campbell Berry's triumphant arrival at the League of Nations in Geneva, determined to right the wrongs of the world. The idealism of those early Grand Days has been eroded by a sense foreboding as the world moves ever closer to another war. Edith's life too, has changed: her marriage and her work are no longer the anchors in her life – she is restless, unsure, feeling the weight of history upon her and her world.

'As her certainties crumble, Edith is once again joined by Ambrose Westwood, her old friend and lover. Their reunion is joyful, and her old anxiety about their unconventional relationship is replaced by a feeling that all things are possible – at least in her private life.

'But World War II advances inexorably, and Edith, Ambrose and their fellow officers must come to terms with the knowledge that their best efforts – and those of the well-meaning world – are simply useless against the forces of the time. Moving, wise and utterly engrossing, this is a profound and enriching novel. Grand Days and Dark Palace confirm Frank Moorhouse as one of our greatest writers – a master of tone and timing, an elegant and exuberant stylist, and an unerring chronicler of the human spirit.'

[sourced from publisher's website]

3
y separately published work icon Cold Light Frank Moorhouse , North Sydney : Knopf Vintage Australia , 2011 Z1811619 2011 single work novel historical fiction (taught in 1 units)

'It is 1950, the League of Nations has collapsed and the newly formed United Nations has rejected all those who worked and fought for the League. Edith Campbell Berry, who joined the League in Geneva before the war, is out of a job, her vision shattered. With her sexually unconventional, husband, Ambrose, she comes back to Australia to live in Canberra.

'Edith now has ambitions to become Australia's first female ambassador, but while she waits for a Call from On High, she finds herself caught up in the planning of the national capital and the dream that it should be "a city like no other".

'When her communist brother, Frederick, turns up out of the blue after many years of absence, she becomes concerned that he may jeopardise her chances of becoming a diplomat. It is not a safe time to be a communist in Australia or to be related to one, but she refuses to be cowed by the anti-communist sentiment sweeping the country. It is also not a safe time or place to be "a wife with a lavender husband". After pursuing the Bloomsbury life for many years, Edith finds herself fearful of being exposed. Unexpectedly, in mid-life she also realises that she yearns for children. When she meets a man who could offer not only security but a ready-made family, she consults the Book of Crossroads and the answer changes the course of her life.

'Intelligent, poignant and absorbing, Cold Light is a remarkable stand-alone novel, which can also be read as a companion to the earlier Edith novels Grand Days and Dark Palace.' (From the publisher's website.)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1993
    • Chippendale, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: Milsons Point, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: North Sydney, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Pan Macmillan Australia ; Knopf ; Vintage Australia , 1993-2011 .
      Note/s:
      • Volume one published in Chippendale by Pan Macmillan Australia; volume two published in Milsons Point and volume three in North Sydney, both by Random House's Knopf and Vintage imprints.

Works about this Work

The League of Nations Was Formed 100 Years Ago Today. Meet the Australian Women Who Lobbied to Join It Yves Rees , 2020 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 10 January 2020;

'Today marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the League of Nations — the intergovernmental organisation, headquartered in Geneva, that emerged from the ashes of the first world war.' (Introduction)

Science Communicators Are the New Book Festival Stars – so What Do They Read? Peter Doherty , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 24 August 2015;
'Who is Edith Campbell Berry? Lenore Coltheart , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: Island , Autumn no. 132 2013; (p. 6-12)
'When the first of Frank Moorhouse's trilogy of novels about Edith Campbell Berry was published in 1993, Canberra-based political historian Lenore Coltheart was teaching and writing on women and internationalism and about to spend a sabbatical at the League of Nations archives in Geneva. Edith Campbell Berry is a heroine so vivid that, although a fictional construction, 'What would Edith do?' has become a ready response to dilemmas public and private. Drawing on Moorhouse's trilogy and her own research into the time, Coltheart examines a more fundamental question: 'Who is Edith Campbell Berry?' (p. 7)
Moorhouse Trilogy Heroine Heads for TV Linda Morris , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 14-15 December 2013; (p. 14)
Undercover Susan Wyndham , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 12-13 May 2012; (p. 31)
A column canvassing current literary news including a report on a Sydney Writers' Festival event titled 'What Would Edith Do?', 19 May 2012. The event focuses on the fictional Edith Campbell Berry, the central character in Frank Moorhouse's Palais des Nations trilogy.
His Dark Material Richard Guilliatt , 2007 single work biography
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian Magazine , 1-2 December 2007; (p. 24-25, 27-28)
Just the Spot for their Plots Lynne Minion , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 13 September 2008; (p. 4-5)
A Light on the Hill Andrea Hanke (interviewer), 2011 single work interview
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , November vol. 91 no. 5 2011; (p. 31)
Undercover Susan Wyndham , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 12-13 May 2012; (p. 31)
A column canvassing current literary news including a report on a Sydney Writers' Festival event titled 'What Would Edith Do?', 19 May 2012. The event focuses on the fictional Edith Campbell Berry, the central character in Frank Moorhouse's Palais des Nations trilogy.
'Who is Edith Campbell Berry? Lenore Coltheart , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: Island , Autumn no. 132 2013; (p. 6-12)
'When the first of Frank Moorhouse's trilogy of novels about Edith Campbell Berry was published in 1993, Canberra-based political historian Lenore Coltheart was teaching and writing on women and internationalism and about to spend a sabbatical at the League of Nations archives in Geneva. Edith Campbell Berry is a heroine so vivid that, although a fictional construction, 'What would Edith do?' has become a ready response to dilemmas public and private. Drawing on Moorhouse's trilogy and her own research into the time, Coltheart examines a more fundamental question: 'Who is Edith Campbell Berry?' (p. 7)
Last amended 11 Jun 2020 14:21:31
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