Sensational rumours of the murder of three small children by their stepmother ignite the passions of Perth citizens in 1909. Shocked by horrific descriptions of how she poisoned the children, they demand her execution as one voice. But did she do it? Or was she a victim of the prejudices of her persecutors? Based on a true story and meticulously researched, this compelling novel is driven by passion, imagination and an eerie conjuring up of the past.
Ancient Stepmothers is the first full-length study of the stepmother in Graeco-Roman antiquity. Several perspectives are covered: literary, historical and sociological, the last-mentioned making use of comparative material from modern studies of stepfamilies. The portrayal of the stepmother in myth and literature is thoroughly explored. The historical background in Athens and Rome is examined with a view to determining the relationship between fiction and real life. The book makes an important contribution to the study of both literary history and family relationships: in particular, it sheds light on attitudes to women, the portrayal of the stepmother being an outstanding illustration of misogynistic prejudice. It will also interest sociologists wishing to place studies of the contemporary stepfamily in a wider historical context: for this reason, all Greek and Latin is translated into English.
In August 1925, Audrey Jacob shot dead her former fiancÉ, Cyril Gidley, in full view of hundreds of guests at a charity ball in Perth's Government House. When she was arrested, she still held the gun in her hand. It was a open and shut case of wilful murder—that is until Jacob assigned prosecutor Arthur Haynes to her defence. His ability to play the press and the jury for sympathy would lead to a sensational result. Not only did Jacob escape the gallows, she was found not guilty of Gidley's murder. Straw, the author of a number of books about notable Australian female criminals, tells a story that is rich with first-hand newspaper accounts from the day.
Story/telling is an eclectic and fascinating collection of stories and stories about stories. With passion and verve, some of Australia's finest writers range through vast territory exploring new directions in film and media, enigmas and creativity, histories of mothering, narratives of indigenous and migrant experience, folk, country and multicultural music traditions, and dilemmas of interpretation.These writers appreciate the power of stories, for good and ill. They interrogate narratives of Australia's past and present and call for new stories for changing times. We hear voices, raised one moment, subdued the next, as if we were sitting in the Forum tent at the Woodford Festival, knowing that here and just beyond, in paint, dance, music and words, stories are happening in delicious abundance.
"Prison: Cultural Memory and Dark Tourism discusses decommissioned Australian prisons currently or potentially functioning as tourist attractions. In particular, it addresses a fundamental question: Do the interpretations and presentations of the sites include and fairly represent the personal stories and experiences associated with those prisons? The author argues that the conventional understanding of most of Australia's historical prisons fosters a radical "othering" of inmates, and with it the exclusion, distortion and historical neglect of their narratives." "This book examines avenues via which neglected narratives may be glimpsed or inferred, presenting a number of examples. This remedies the imbalance in some degree - and tests such avenues' potential as resources for inclusive interpretations by public historians and curators. The book also focuses on the influence of "celebrity prisoners", whose links to the penal system are exploited as promotional features by the sites and in some cases by the individuals themselves. Their narratives provide broad, if unwitting, support for the system and for the othering of the more general inmate population." "The ramifications of the above with regard to aspects of Australian identity mean that certain facets of the "Australian character" traditionally held to be emblematic are affected. These effects have subtle but tangible consequences for modern Australians' collective memory and deleterious consequences for current popular attitudes to penal practice."--BOOK JACKET.
Inspired by the website that the New York Times hailed as "redefining mourning," this book is a fresh and irreverent examination into navigating grief and resilience in the age of social media, offering comfort and community for coping with the mess of loss through candid original essays from a variety of voices, accompanied by gorgeous two-color illustrations and wry infographics. At a time when we mourn public figures and national tragedies with hashtags, where intimate posts about loss go viral and we receive automated birthday reminders for dead friends, it’s clear we are navigating new terrain without a road map. Let’s face it: most of us have always had a difficult time talking about death and sharing our grief. We’re awkward and uncertain; we avoid, ignore, or even deny feelings of sadness; we offer platitudes; we send sympathy bouquets whittled out of fruit. Enter Rebecca Soffer and Gabrielle Birkner, who can help us do better. Each having lost parents as young adults, they co-founded Modern Loss, responding to a need to change the dialogue around the messy experience of grief. Now, in this wise and often funny book, they offer the insights of the Modern Loss community to help us cry, laugh, grieve, identify, and—above all—empathize. Soffer and Birkner, along with forty guest contributors including Lucy Kalanithi, singer Amanda Palmer, and CNN’s Brian Stelter, reveal their own stories on a wide range of topics including triggers, sex, secrets, and inheritance. Accompanied by beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and witty "how to" cartoons, each contribution provides a unique perspective on loss as well as a remarkable life-affirming message. Brutally honest and inspiring, Modern Loss invites us to talk intimately and humorously about grief, helping us confront the humanity (and mortality) we all share. Beginners welcome.
This compelling and unique collection of critical and creative work assesses for the first time cultural, literary, legal and historical representations and narratives about mothers who kill and filicide. The idea of a mother killing her child to many presents the greatest taboo, and the most disturbing and distressing aspect of maternal experience. In Toni Morrison's 1987 novel Beloved, escaped slave mother Sethe addresses her daughter Beloved whom she murdered out of desperation, in order to avoid her returning to a life of slavery and sexual abuse. Sethe reflects, “I'll explain to her, even though I don't have to. Why I did it. How if I hadn't killed her she would have died and that is something I could not bear to happen to her. When I explain it she'll understand.” This book goes beyond Morrison's widely known literary portrayal, in order to investigate a range of other, less known but no less challenging, examinations of maternal filicide. Have mothers who kill inevitably been portrayed as monsters in cultural representations? Or are there certain contexts that may urge us to reevaluate maternal behavior? And how might we counter the misogynist narratives surrounding maternal filicide which have governed literary and historical accounts and affected legal discourses? This wide-ranging and innovative volume examines the complex issues of infanticide and mothers who kill from a broad, interdisciplinary perspective, in order to counter the misogynist cultural narratives that underpin prevailing stereotypes of mothers. The book includes creative work, essays on crime fiction, literature from across a range of historical periods, multicultural and Global South perspectives, legal and historical accounts, and more. Making an invaluable contribution to motherhood studies and gender criticism, this book offers a rich insight into current and cutting-edge research into this most troubling area of maternal representation.
This critique explodes the stereotypical assumption that men are more prone than women to aggression A cogent and holistic assessment of the theoretical positions and research concerning female aggression Examines the treatment, punishment and community response to female aggressive behavior Examines topics including sexual power, serial murder and the evolution of gendered aggression Treats female aggression in its own right rather than as a counterpart to male violence
Analysis of the assimilation issues and race relations in five novels from the 1950s and 1960s and three non-fiction and texts that were produced in academic and government circles regarding the 'half caste problem' in the 1930s and 1940s; includes overview of assimilation in Australia and definitions of assimilation; management of race relations in Australia; eugenic politics; Aboriginality; 1937 Aboriginal welfare conference; Citizenship for the Aborigines (1944); Australia's Colours Minority: Its place in the community (1947).
