Yearly Archives: 2013

The hapless 2013 England cricketers have so far lost all four Ashes Tests, with Australia now well-placed to pull off a 5-0 whitewash in Sydney next week. How very different from the mighty 1928 England team touring Australia, which comprehensively beat Australia 4-1! (That series was summarised in this earlier […]

Australian cricket’s a credit to the Empire

December 30, 2013 in Cricket / Morgan Straughan / Wally Sotheby by francis

The vibrant cultural scene in December 1928 saw at least five performances of Handel’s Messiah in Sydney Town Hall, so of course Annette Young wrote one into A Distant Prospect! The first Messiah to raise the roof was by the 600-voice Welsh Choral Society on 8 December, repeating its success […]

Christmas isn’t Christmas without Handel’s Messiah

December 21, 2013 in Lucy Straughan / Music / Sydney by francis

In Chapter 48, the eve of the climactic Conservatorium competition, Lucy practices getting her cello to the stage without callipers on her polio-weakened legs, when disaster strikes… I was feeling more optimistic than I had been for months about doing away with my right calliper. As far as walking on […]

The day I broke my cello

December 18, 2013 in Cello / Lucy Straughan / Morgan Straughan by francis

Thank you, Alan Jones AO, for your praise of Annette Young’s A Distant Prospect on Radio 2GB this morning. Welcome to any of Alan’s listeners who might be visiting this blog today, and please support your local bookshop, who can obtain copies quickly from our distributor Dennis Jones & Associates […]

Alan Jones praises A Distant Prospect

December 12, 2013 in Reviews by francis

Trust in God. Lucy observes how recently-ordained country curate, Father John Connolly, has to deal with accepting the will of God, when she visits Pim Connolly’s Aunt Rose in Moss Vale, in the winter of 1928. We passed the church and Pim slowed the pony to a walk. Coming towards […]

Life of a young country priest in Moss Vale

December 7, 2013 in Lucy Straughan / Pim Connolly / Suffering by francis

Take the chapter challenge! Can you read the free opening chapters of A Distant Prospect and not be hooked? Your free sample chapters can be read on your Amazon Kindle or Kobo eReader, Android or iOS device or any computer. Get your free chapters here by choosing to download the free sample, […]

Five chapters free on Kindle or Kobo

November 22, 2013 in Promotion by francis

In 1928, the arches of the Bridge were still two years from meeting, but already this massive undertaking was a sign of confidence for a hopeful future, one worthy of such a mighty public work. In A Distant Prospect its slow but inexorable progress symbolises the hope of a better […]

Sydney Harbour Bridge

November 19, 2013 in Lucy Straughan / Morgan Straughan / Sydney by francis

“Infantile paralysis. No known treatment. Do the best you can with the symptoms presenting themselves.” – telegram to trainee bush nurse, Sister Elizabeth Kenny, in 1909. By 1910, the doctor who sent this telegram was amazed to learn that she had treated six children with poliomyelitis, and none were crippled […]

Polio in the 1920s, Sister Kenny and Lucy’s pain

November 17, 2013 in Lucy Straughan / Morgan Straughan / Polio / Suffering by francis

By popular demand, we proudly announce the Kindle edition of A Distant Prospect, with a special launch weekend list price of USD9.99/AUD10.49, for such a BIG read (the hardback runs to 608 pages). Get it now from any Amazon store, including the new Amazon.com.au, Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. The free sample […]

Kindle edition launch weekend special

November 16, 2013 in Book production / Events by francis

First time novelist, Australian born Annette Young, has certainly proven her mettle in this period piece of interwoven themes, set in the late 1920s in Sydney. Written within an autobiographical framework by the fifteen year old Irish born character, Lucy Straughan, A Distant Prospect is a deeply moving account of […]

Christine McCarthy: “beautiful and poignant”, “graphic and colourful”, “a marvellous ...

November 15, 2013 in Reviews by francis

Here is a brief guide to the Irish expressions used by Lucy and her father, Morgan, in A Distant Prospect. A printable version is at Gluais úsáide Gaelach – Glossary of Irish usage. Dia duit: Hello (literal translation: God to you) Dia is Muire duit: Hello (literally, God and Mary to […]

Gluais úsáide Gaelach – Glossary of Irish usage

November 13, 2013 in Irish / Lucy Straughan / Morgan Straughan by francis

Impatient readers who are missing the characters they loved in A Distant Prospect will be pleased to know that Annette has already filled three large notebooks with timelines and scenes for the sequel. Yes, it is a sequel! Annette’s powerful new story spans about a decade from the mid 1930s […]

Sequel is coming together! (No spoilers!)

November 10, 2013 in Sequel / Writing by francis

Reviewed By Gabrielle Smith A Distant Prospect by Annette Young is a well-written, well-researched novel set in Sydney in 1928. It is basically concerned with the character of an apprehensive, self-conscious, resentful teenager, Lucy Straughan. Following the tragic death of his beloved wife, grieving and poverty-stricken Morgan Straughan escapes the […]

Cardinal Newman Catholic Bookshop reviews A Distant Prospect

October 26, 2013 in Morgan Straughan / Reviews by francis

How do musicians do it? What is the secret to sight-reading? In Chapter 12 of A Distant Prospect, Phoebe gives Lucy this 30-second crash course. ‘What on earth are you doing?’ asked Phoebe. I returned my glasses to my nose. She was staring at me in a very scornful way. […]

Crash course in music sight-reading

September 8, 2013 in Music / Phoebe Raye by francis

Della Sotheby’s high society mother always stayed up to date, so The Home magazine was essential to her thoroughly modern household. Quoting a 1929 advertisement: “The Home is the one authority in Australia in matters of good taste and has come to be recognised as one of the finest journals […]

The Home Magazine (1920-1942)

August 23, 2013 in Art / Della Sotheby / Sydney by francis

Annette Young at Sydney Moderns, Art Gallery of NSW, 23 August 2013 — Until October 7, catch Sydney moderns, art for a new world at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, showcasing art and photography from the 1920s and 1930s. Featuring the iconic The Bridge in-curve 1930, by Grace Cossington Smith, which is also the cover art of A Distant Prospect, the […]

Sydney Moderns at the Art Gallery of NSW

July 7, 2013 in Art / Events / Morgan Straughan / Sydney by francis

2013 Miles Franklin Literary Award Judges — Thank you to the organisers and judging panel of the 2013 Miles Franklin Literary Award for considering Annette Young’s A Distant Prospect, and congratulations to those selected on the 2013 Long List today. 72 novels were nominated, one-third more than last year, however only 10 titles were selected for this […]

2013 Miles Franklin Literary Award Long List

March 25, 2013 in Book production / Events / Reviews by francis

Clare Cannon of GoodReadingGuide.com has filed this enthusiastic video book review. Clare describes A Distant Prospect as “A Book That Has It All: Historical Fiction, Friendship, Romance, Family, Music, Art, Culture…“. The Good Reading Guide YouTube channel is at http://www.youtube.com/user/GoodReadingGuide/videos?view=0 Thank you, Clare! GoodReadingGuide.com is a great resource if you […]

Video book review from Good Reading Guide

March 16, 2013 in Reviews by francis

A Distant Prospect – ISBN 9780987435101