Finding Jasper, by Lynne Leonhardt
Finding Jasper is Lynne Leonhardt’s first novel and the first novel-length book published by Margaret River Press. The story centres around Gin (Virginia), the youngest of the three generations of Partridge family women whose stories are portrayed – Gin’s...
Reflections of a Breast Physician
I worked as a breast physician in a breast clinic for seven years. We screened women at high-risk of developing breast cancer, investigated those with breast symptoms, and followed women up after their treatment for cancer. We met the women in the morning, took a...
Part 3: And life goes on …
This is the third and final instalment in this series about my sister’s death. If you want to read the earlier instalments, click for Part 1 or Part 2. However, I pulled all three posts together as a single essay, which I called, ‘Tribute to a...
BREAKING NEWS …
I interrupt normal blog transmission to share breaking news of the novel’s progress: I have been selected as a 2014 Varuna Residential Fellowship Recipient. What is that? I hear you ask. Well, it’s bed and board and a writing desk for two weeks, at Varuna,...
Part 2: The next few days
This is Part 2 in a series I’ve written about the death of my sister. If you wish to read Part 1, click here. I have made it easier to read by pulling all three parts together as a single essay, ‘Tribute to a Sister’. ~ My sister’s boyfriend’s...
Part 1: Friday, November 13th, 1987
*I’ve combined the three blog posts about my sister’s death into a single essay, which might be easier to read and which you can find here. On Friday, 13th November, 1987, my sister, Fran, and I were in the thick of end-of-year exams at the...
Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent
I’d read the rave reviews of this novel prior to buying it. I knew that it had won the inaugural Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award, that it had been sold in 18 different countries and that it had sparked a bidding war for the movie rights. I approached it...
Photos of spring …
The skies might be grey and the rain may be falling, but I can taste spring … SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave
When a Pet Dies …
We knew the time had come, yet it was still hard to make the decision to let her go. Ending the life of anything goes against the grain — death is final. That’s it. The end. No going back. So we kept putting it off, until we couldn’t avoid the...
Trusting My (Maternal) Instinct
I had a fairly run-of-the-mill first delivery — sixteen hour labour, overnight of course, episiotomy, forceps. Then I was rewarded with my baby, a purple bundle in my arms. Obviously we’d never met before, yet she was so familiar. And when I spoke, she...