A Distant Prospect – ISBN 9780987435101

Monthly Archives: December 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