y separately published work icon Iron Cradles single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 1999... 1999 Iron Cradles
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

What happens when the bond between mother and child is broken? When distance and circumstance make for an enforced separation?
Carol Mara explores this theme as it occurred for many families in the 1950s when the polio epidemic was sweeping across towns and cities. Iron Cradles tells the story of one family whose baby daughter, diagnosed with polio, is banished to a Sydney hospital and into isolation.
With depth of characterisation and a wonderful talent for storytelling, Carol Mara shows us a small town's attitude to the contagious disease and to the family who are now considered by many to be tainted. While the focus of Iron Cradles is the experience of the mother, Nettie, the broader social picture of Australia in the 1950s is woven skilfully into the narrative.
Iron Cradles is a thought provoking and very moving exploration of a family in crisis, of powerlessness in the face of authority and ignorance, and of finding resolution.

(Source: Booktopia)

Notes

  • Dedication: For my children Richard, William (1981-1994) and Catherine.
  • Epigraph: Evening star, you bring all things

    Which the bright dawn has scattered:

    You bring the sheep, you bring the goat,

    You bring the child back to its mother.

    Sappho

Affiliation Notes

  • Writing Disability in Australia:

    Type of disability Poliomyelitis.
    Type of character Primary.
    Point of view

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • St Leonards, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 1999 .
      Extent: 294p.
      ISBN: 1865080209

Other Formats

  • Also sound recording.

Works about this Work

[Review] Iron Cradles Jean Doran , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 13 no. 3 1999; (p. 29-30)

— Review of Iron Cradles Carol Mara , 1999 single work novel
Books in Brief Carly Chynoweth , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian's Review of Books , April vol. 4 no. 3 1999; (p. 25)

— Review of Iron Cradles Carol Mara , 1999 single work novel
Shorts Lauren Byleveld , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 210 1999; (p. 46)

— Review of Iron Cradles Carol Mara , 1999 single work novel
Sweet and Sour Ironclad Realism Mary Philip , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 10 April 1999; (p. 9)

— Review of Iron Cradles Carol Mara , 1999 single work novel
In Nietzsche's Tracks Lesley Beasley , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 3 April 1999; (p. 22)

— Review of Iron Cradles Carol Mara , 1999 single work novel ; Last of the Sane Days Fiona Capp , 1999 single work novel
[Review] Iron Cradles Jean Doran , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 13 no. 3 1999; (p. 29-30)

— Review of Iron Cradles Carol Mara , 1999 single work novel
Paperbacks Lucy Sussex , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 3 April 1999; (p. 7)

— Review of Running with Light Luke Davies , 1999 selected work poetry ; Iron Cradles Carol Mara , 1999 single work novel
In Nietzsche's Tracks Lesley Beasley , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 3 April 1999; (p. 22)

— Review of Iron Cradles Carol Mara , 1999 single work novel ; Last of the Sane Days Fiona Capp , 1999 single work novel
Sweet and Sour Ironclad Realism Mary Philip , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 10 April 1999; (p. 9)

— Review of Iron Cradles Carol Mara , 1999 single work novel
Shorts Lauren Byleveld , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 210 1999; (p. 46)

— Review of Iron Cradles Carol Mara , 1999 single work novel
Last amended 16 Mar 2018 14:34:54
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