Postwar changes

Empire day / Diane Armstrong. Pymble, N.S.W.: Fourth Estate, 2011

Bondi Junction in the late 1940s is a microcosm of changing Australia, and life is changing too fast for locals like salt-of-the-earth Pop Wilson, prickly Miss McNulty and feisty single mum Kath, all of whom resent the European 'reffos' who have moved in. The newcomers are struggling to rebuild their lives while the unhealed wounds of the past threaten to overwhelm them. As the lives of the neighbours interweave, unexpected new relationships cause tragedy for some, but forgiveness and salvation for others. Ultimately the residents of Wattle Street discover that behind closed doors, Old as well as New Australians have secret heartaches which poison their lives. Part love story, part mystery and part crime investigation.
'A captivating story with a host of interesting characters. Armstrong weaves a multi-strand novel that explores the clash of old and new Australians.'
THE AUSTRALIAN JEWISH NEWS

Asylum in the Australian outback

Nights in the asylum / Carol Lefevre. Milsons Point, N.S.W.: Random House Australia, 2007

Set in a mining town in the Australian outback, Nights in the Asylum is the story of three people seeking shelter. Stricken with grief and guilt following the death of her daughter, Miri flees the city for the quiet calm of Havana Gardens, a once fine but now dilapidated mansion built for her grandmother. On the road she rescues Aziz, an Afghan refugee on the run from detention; then, in the attic of the old house, Miri discovers Suzette Moran and her baby daugher hiding, and grants them refuge.

Written in spare, taut prose, Nights in the Asylum is Miri's story; it is also a story of home, of belonging, of leaving one home and trying to make another, where-ever and how-ever you can.