A Distant Prospect – ISBN 9780987435101

Morgan Straughan

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

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

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

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

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

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