A Distant Prospect – ISBN 9780987435101

History

Lest We Forget — What are the origins of the Dawn Service tradition, and why does it matter? Few were left unscathed by the Great War. We still witness many of its lasting impacts in the 1928 Sydney setting of A Distant Prospect. Indeed, the very first Dawn Service was quietly held in Sydney in […]

Anzac Day Dawn Service – Lest We Forget

April 23, 2015 in War by francis

Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940) — Roderick Raye is arguably the key character in A Distant Prospect, and to quite a few readers, the most beloved. Having established himself as a violinist in the Viennese music scene before the outbreak of the Great War, Phoebe Raye’s father had returned to Ballarat and subsequently enlisted in the […]

Roderick John Raye Trooper 13th Lighthorse

April 21, 2015 in Phoebe Raye / Roderick Raye / War by francis

Researching pre-Anschluss Vienna for her dramatic sequel, Annette saw something puzzling – the trams seemed to change from left to right in the same streets. How could this be? Today Vienna has about 200 km of tramways. At its peak in 1930 there were an astounding 318 km of tram […]

The day Hitler reversed Vienna’s trams

March 21, 2015 in Railways / Research / Vienna by francis

Horse market in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway — It’s Melbourne Cup Day 2014, so here’s a moment from Chapter 15, when Lucy visits Pim’s Aunt Rose in Moss Vale. Pim wanted to know all about Ireland. So I began to tell her bits and pieces about the little four-roomed cottage where we lived, about the Claddagh and the […]

Melbourne Cup Day and memories of Irish racehorses

November 4, 2014 in Irish / Lucy Straughan by francis

Sydney Conservatorium early 1920s — Paul from Dublin says “it was a joy” to read authentic Irish phrases in A Distant Prospect. Congratulations on a most uplifting epic, Annette! So seldom is it possible to find authors of fiction who set out to inspire, who are conscious that each one of us is called to […]

An Irish Review – each of us is called to ...

August 30, 2014 in Irish / Mrs Epstein / Reviews by francis

Lucy’s leg callipers gave this Great War veteran an opening for the black humour that helped him cope with his lost mobility. ‘I got mine at Bellicourt. Where’d you get yours?’ he asked me when I shook his hand, and he indicated my legs with a raise of an eyebrow […]

Music for war veterans

August 3, 2014 in Mrs Epstein / Music / North Sydney / Suffering / War by francis

Albury steam locomotive 1930 — Colonial rivalry saw different rail guages in Victoria and New South Wales, making Albury’s impressive station “All change!” for passengers and goods, when the lines met on 14 June 1863. Albury’s 455-metre platform accommodates two full-length trains. In 1847-48 all three colonies had adopted England’s 4’8 1/2″ standard rail guage, […]

Albury “All change!”, Australian rail guage and Roderick’s “Bally Rat”

June 15, 2014 in Ballarat / Phoebe Raye / Railways / Roderick Raye by francis

Here’s what Al Jolson was like on a live stage, as filmed in 1926 on a set at the New York City Opera. Below, read the incredible story from Ron Hutchinson about how this film and its sound were recovered. Couldn’t let Al Jolson’s birthday go by without posting his […]

Al Jolson on stage in 1926

May 27, 2014 in Al Jolson / Music by francis

With a tree planted for each soldier from Ballarat who enlisted in the Great War, the Avenue of Honour was planted from 1917 to 1919 and stretches 22 km along the Western Highway, consisting of 3,771 trees. The completed Avenue was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1920, and […]

Ballarat’s Avenue of Honour and Phoebe’s father

May 25, 2014 in Ballarat / Phoebe Raye / Roderick Raye / War by francis

Balmoral Beach 1929, Samuel Wood. Public domain. — Picturesque Balmoral Beach is one of Annette Young’s special places. Balmoral was a friendly alcove with waves that delighted in whispering secrets to the sand. Benny greeted his lady friend on the promenade and left us to set up our own picnic which we chose to do on the beach. […]

Balmoral Beach picnic, 1928

May 10, 2014 in Annette / Balmoral / Polio / Sydney by francis

Waler horse — Discovering a secret stash of illustrated letters provides Phoebe Raye with a dramatic narrative of trench life from her father, Roderick, including comical tales of his beloved war horse on the Western Front. Phoebe leant over to look at the letter Pim was reading. Again it was illustrated with a […]

Gregory Allegri, the hardy Australian war horse

April 28, 2014 in Gregory Allegri / Phoebe Raye / Roderick Raye / War by francis

Easter Triduum is a good time to seek out God’s will for us: “Oh, to get inside that tabernacle! From my place in the dark body of the chapel I wanted to stretch forward like the branches of a tree in a dark forest struggled towards the light. I wanted […]

Oh, to get inside that tabernacle!

April 19, 2014 in Prayers / Suffering by francis

Bert Hinkler’s Avro Avian left England on 7 February and arrived in Darwin on 22 February 1928, fewer than 16 days later. Newspapers and the public became increasingly excited after he passed India, and tumultuous crowds would greet him in his home town of Bundaberg and several other cities. After […]

Hustling Hinkler – Bert Hinkler’s solo 1928 England-Australia flight

April 9, 2014 in Aviators / Bert Hinkler / Della Sotheby by francis

Harvest Time c. 1897, Irish Life Series, National Library of Ireland — Author Annette Young hears robins and cuckoos calling in Haydn’s “Fifths” String Quartet. She has cellist Lucy recalling her Irish childhood and the passing seasons while playing A Distant Prospect‘s climactic Chapter 50 concert: Autumn is celebrated with the races and the harvest; and the harvest months at home were […]

Autumn Harvest Time in Haydn’s Fifths String Quartet

April 2, 2014 in Haydn / Irish / Music by francis

Lucy here describes her home in County Galway, which she fled aged 8 in 1921, and how it compares to the house which her da found for them in Sydney’s Newtown. ‘It was a little four room cottage with a thatched roof and a hearth. A kitchen there was in […]

An Irish girl in a strange land

March 16, 2014 in Irish / Lucy Straughan / Newtown / Sydney by francis

Lucy would approve! In honour of St Patrick’s Day, snap up A Distant Prospect Kindle edition for just US$7.00, saving 30% off the usual price of $9.99. It makes a grand instant gift for someone back home, too. Just click the “Give as a Gift” button on the Kindle page, […]

St Patrick’s Day 30% Kindle Special

March 14, 2014 in Irish / Promotion by francis

Erin go braugh — May 20-26, 1928, was Empire Shopping Week, but Lucy was having none of it! Enjoy this meticulous piece of historical detail in A Distant Prospect, by Annette Young: We resumed our walk up King Street and paused occasionally to look at the window displays. It was Empire Week and the […]

St Patrick’s Day vs Empire Week – Erin go braugh!

March 13, 2014 in Della Sotheby / Irish / Lucy Straughan / Newtown by francis

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