image of person or book cover 2973619051505652045.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon An Imaginary Mother single work   autobiography  
Issue Details: First known date: 2013... 2013 An Imaginary Mother
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Some days, if the wash hadn't been too grubby, Mum would scrape the hot ash from under the copper, let the water cool down, then plonk me naked into the 'pot'. Grinning wickedly she would tell me I was being boiled until tender. 'And then I will gobble you all up!''

Bron was Phyllis Nicholls' first child. An Imaginary Mother is an open-hearted memoir of her mother and their intense relationship over fifty-six years. Phyllis was a secretive, complex and unpredictable woman. Before her marriage, Phyllis worked happily as a designer in Vida Turner's pioneering textile company. After WW II, with a young family, she had to cope with the isolation of a struggling farm, her husband's conversion to a rigid religion and her increasing mood changes between despair, melancholy and joy. Yet to the end of almost eighty years, Phyll was a stoic. She saw her 'madnesses' as the inevitable ups and downs of a full life, to be worked around with a mixture of courage, stealth, ingenuity and, whenever possible, with humour.' (Publisher's blurb)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Fitzroy North, Fitzroy - Collingwood area, Melbourne - North, Melbourne, Victoria,: Black Pepper , 2013 .
      image of person or book cover 2973619051505652045.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: vii, 152 p.p.
      Description: ill.
      ISBN: 9781876044770 (pbk.)

Works about this Work

Review : Too Afraid to Cry and An Imaginary Mother: A Memoir Kate Livett , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Long Paddock , vol. 73 no. 1 2013;

— Review of Too Afraid to Cry Ali Cobby Eckermann , 2013 selected work autobiography ; An Imaginary Mother Bron Nicholls , 2013 single work autobiography
Agonising Ruptures in the Maternal World Joanne Fedler , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 16-17 March 2013; (p. 18-19)

— Review of An Imaginary Mother Bron Nicholls , 2013 single work autobiography
A Heartrending Memoir : Georgina Scillio Reviews ‘An Imaginary Mother’ by Bron Nicholls. Georgina Scillio , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , March no. 7 2013;

— Review of An Imaginary Mother Bron Nicholls , 2013 single work autobiography
Agonising Ruptures in the Maternal World Joanne Fedler , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 16-17 March 2013; (p. 18-19)

— Review of An Imaginary Mother Bron Nicholls , 2013 single work autobiography
A Heartrending Memoir : Georgina Scillio Reviews ‘An Imaginary Mother’ by Bron Nicholls. Georgina Scillio , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , March no. 7 2013;

— Review of An Imaginary Mother Bron Nicholls , 2013 single work autobiography
Review : Too Afraid to Cry and An Imaginary Mother: A Memoir Kate Livett , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Long Paddock , vol. 73 no. 1 2013;

— Review of Too Afraid to Cry Ali Cobby Eckermann , 2013 selected work autobiography ; An Imaginary Mother Bron Nicholls , 2013 single work autobiography
Last amended 18 Mar 2015 13:39:53
X