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y separately published work icon The Biographer single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2008... 2008 The Biographer
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Greer Gordon lives in Italy with Mischa Svoboda, a driven Czech-born painter with a booming international reputation. She and Mischa met in the 1970s, when his debut show at the small Melbourne art gallery where Greer then worked created a sensation. He was unknown at the time, a recently arrived refugee from Prague. Their explosive love affair caused Greer to abandon her husband, job and autocratic boss Verity, sever all contact with home and embark on a nomadic life with Mischa.

'Twenty-five years later, Tony, a young American art critic, has been researching a biography of Mischa and arrives in the small Italian hilltop community where they now live. Greer is consumed by anxiety, fearing 'the biographer' may have unearthed something that happened as a consequence of her meeting Mischa, a buried secret she had intended to write out of her life story. Greer and Tony play out a gripping cat-and-mouse game in which she tries to glean who he has spoken to and what, if anything, he knows, while he lets drop, with calculated casualness, graded snippets of information designed to keep her guessing.

'It becomes clear that Tony is manipulating a dramatic outcome for the purposes of his story. It will be an investigative read in which the reader discovers the facts as the biographer-detective unravels them. The biographer intends to make his name with this book.

'As her hand is forced, Greer embarks on a tense journey of her own. In revisiting the past from the perspective of the present, through Tony's artful interrogations and her own diary, she is compelled to put her youthful self on trial. In the process she makes a life-changing discovery.' (Publisher's blurb)

Notes

  • Dedication: To the two John Duigans: my brother and my uncle. And to my sister- and brother-in-law, Helen and Jan Senbergs.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • North Sydney, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Vintage Australia , 2008 .
      image of person or book cover 6707734087288541127.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Goodreads.
      Extent: 323p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: 1 April 2008.
      • Written as Virginia Duigan
      • On front cover: He was there to uncover the past... She wanted it left a secret.
      • Published April 1st 2008
      ISBN: 9781741667134
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Random House Australia , 2010 .
      image of person or book cover 2038087870779078114.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Goodreads.
      Extent: 336p.
      Note/s:
      • Published January 1st 2010
      ISBN: 9781741667158

Other Formats

  • Large print.
  • Sound recording.

Works about this Work

We're a Weird Mob in Italy ,Too Desmond O'Grady , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , December vol. 3 no. 11 2008; (p. 18-19)

— Review of Australians in Italy : Contemporary Lives and Impressions 2008 anthology prose ; The Biographer Virginia Patricia Duigan , 2008 single work novel ; Death in the Mountains : The True Story of a Tuscan Murder Lisa Clifford , 2008 single work prose ; The Villa Diana Alan Moorehead , 1950 selected work prose
An Anthropological Turn? Nathan Hollier , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: Overland , Spring no. 192 2008; (p. 88-92)

— Review of On a Wing and a Prayer Peter Bensley , 2006 single work novel ; The Lost Dog Michelle De Kretser , 2007 single work novel ; Musk and Byrne Fiona Capp , 2008 single work novel ; The Solemn Lantern Maker Merlinda Bobis , 2008 single work novel ; The Biographer Virginia Patricia Duigan , 2008 single work novel ; The Spare Room Helen Garner , 2008 single work novel ; They Called Me the Wildman : The Prison Diary of Henricke Nelson Robert Hollingworth , 2008 single work novel ; Many Years a Thief David Hutchison , 2007 single work novel ; Jamaica : A Novel Malcolm Knox , 2007 single work novel ; The Good Parents Joan London , 2008 single work novel ; Black Sheep : A Dystopian Novel Ben Peek , 2007 single work novel ; Misconceptions Sophie Townsend , 2008 single work novel
Time of One's Own Sacha Molitorisz , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10-11 May 2008; (p. 26-27)
From Palette to Page Katharine England , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 10 May 2008; (p. 12)

— Review of Musk and Byrne Fiona Capp , 2008 single work novel ; The Biographer Virginia Patricia Duigan , 2008 single work novel
Life's Secrets Hidden in Plain Sight Brenda Niall , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 25-26 April 2008; (p. 25)

— Review of The Biographer Virginia Patricia Duigan , 2008 single work novel
Suspense Gets Buried in Haste and Waste on Way Diane Stubbings , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 5 April 2008; (p. 17)

— Review of The Biographer Virginia Patricia Duigan , 2008 single work novel
To Give or To Withhold? Judith Armstrong , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 300 2008; (p. 27)

— Review of The Biographer Virginia Patricia Duigan , 2008 single work novel
Undone By Formulaic Characters and Plot Frank Campbell , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 12-13 April 2008; (p. 12-13)

— Review of The Biographer Virginia Patricia Duigan , 2008 single work novel
Life's Secrets Hidden in Plain Sight Brenda Niall , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 25-26 April 2008; (p. 25)

— Review of The Biographer Virginia Patricia Duigan , 2008 single work novel
From Palette to Page Katharine England , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 10 May 2008; (p. 12)

— Review of Musk and Byrne Fiona Capp , 2008 single work novel ; The Biographer Virginia Patricia Duigan , 2008 single work novel
The Inner Life of an Intruder Rosemary Sorensen , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 22-23 March 2008; (p. 10-11)
Time of One's Own Sacha Molitorisz , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10-11 May 2008; (p. 26-27)
Last amended 29 Jul 2021 13:11:50
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