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A Waltz for Matilda by Jackie French Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, Under the shade of a coolibah tree. And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled, You’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me …’ In 1894, 12-year-old Matilda flees the city slums to find her unknown father and his farm. But drought grips the land and the shearers are on strike. Her father has turned swaggie and he’s wanted by the troopers. In front of his terrified daughter, he makes a stand against them, defiant to the last. ‘You’ll never catch me alive, said he …’ Set against a backdrop of bushfire, flood, war and jubilation, this is the story of one girl’s journey towards independence. It is also the story of others who had no vote and very little but their dreams. Drawing on the well-known poem by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson and from events rooted in actual history, this is the untold story behind Australia’s early years as an emerging nation.
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My Brother, Muhammad Ali : The Definitive Biography by Rahaman Ali More words have been written about Muhammad Ali than almost anyone else. He was, without doubt, the world's most-loved sportsman. At the height of his celebrity he was the most famous person in the world. And yet, until now, the one voice missing belonged to the man who knew him best - his only sibling, and best friend, Rahaman Ali. No one was closer to Ali than Rahaman. Born Cassius and Rudolph Arnett Clay, the two brothers grew up together, lived together, trained together, travelled together and fought together in the street and in the ring. A near-constant fixture in his sibling's company, Rahaman saw Ali at both his best and his worst: the relentless prankster and the jealous older brother, the outspoken advocate, the husband and father. In My Brother, Muhammad Ali, he is able to offer a surprising insider's perspective on the well-known stories, as well as never-before-told tales, painting a rich and intimate portrait of a proud, relentlessly polarising, yet often vulnerable man. In this extraordinary, poignant memoir, Rahaman tells a much bigger and more personal story than in any other book on the great man - that of two brothers, almost inseparable from birth to death.
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The Girl from Snowy River by Jackie French The year is 1919. Thirty years have passed since the man from Snowy River made his famous ride. World War I still casts its shadow across a valley in the heart of Australia, particularly for orphaned 17-year-old Flinty McAlpine, who lost a brother when the Snowy River men marched away to war. Why has the man Flinty loves returned from the war so changed and distant? Why has her brother Andy 'gone with cattle', leaving Flinty in charge of their younger brother and sister and with the threat of eviction from the farm that is the heart of her life? A brumby muster held under the watchful eye of the legendary Clancy of the Overflow offers hope. Now a girl must ride to save her farm, her family and the valley she loves. A love song to the Snowy Mountains and a tribute to the immortal words of Australia's greatest bush poets, The Girl from Snowy River continues the grand saga ... that began with A Waltz for Matilda.
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Liberation
by
Imogen Kealey
Drawn into the underground Resistance in occupied France, special-ops spy Nancy Wake quickly rises to the top of the Nazi’s most-wanted list, only to find her husband arrested for the acts she has committed. 50,000 first printing.
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The moon sister : Tiggy's story
by
Lucinda Riley
The Moon Sister transports you to the grandeur of the remote Scottish Highlands and the gypsy caves of Granada, just as Spain descends into civil war, interweaving the stories of two women searching for their destinies, at the risk of potentially losing their chance at love. Tiggy D'Apliese spends her days experiencing the raw beauty of the Scottish Highlands doing a job she loves at a deer sanctuary. But when the sanctuary is forced to close, she is offered a job as a wildlife consultant on the vast and isolated estate of the elusive and troubled laird, Charlie Kinnaird. She has no idea that the move will not only irrevocably alter her future, but also bring her face-to-face with her past. At the estate, she meets Chilly, a gypsy who fled from Spain seventy years before. He tells her that not only does she possess a sixth sense passed down from her ancestors, but it was foretold long ago that he would be the one to send her back home.
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Aches & pains by Maeve Binchy Here is a great gift of wisdom and humour for anyone coping with actual aches and pains. Based on the author's own experience as a hip-replacement patient, she provides funny insider advice about coping with the ordeals of surgery, a hospital stay and at-home convalescence. This gem of an audiobook includes: Five things you can say to annoy the patient in the next bed. How to put on elastic stockings. Six ways to make non-alcoholic drinks bearable. How to be the perfect hospital visitor. Unusual but essential things for your medicine cupboard. Filled with the fun, warmth and wisdom for which Maeve Binchy is famous, Aches & Pains is the perfect alternative to a Get Well card.
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Tidelands
by
Philippa Gregory
England 1648. A dangerous time for a woman to be different ... Midsummer's Eve, 1648, and England is in the grip of civil war between renegade King and rebellious Parliament. The struggle reaches every corner of the kingdom, even to the remote Tidelands - the marshy landscape of the south coast. Alinor, a descendant of wise women, crushed by poverty and superstition, waits in the graveyard under the full moon for a ghost who will declare her free from her abusive husband. Instead she meets James, a young man on the run, and shows him the secret ways across the treacherous marsh, not knowing that she is leading disaster into the heart of her life. Suspected of possessing dark secrets in superstitious times, Alinor's ambition and determination mark her out from her neighbours. This is the time of witch-mania, and Alinor, a woman without a husband, skilled with herbs, suddenly enriched, arouses envy in her rivals and fear among the villagers, who are ready to take lethal action into their own hands.
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When It All Went to Custard by Danielle Hawkins I wasn't enjoying the afternoon of 23 February even before I learnt that my husband was having an affair. The news of her husband's infidelity comes as a nasty shock to Jenny Reynolds, part-time building control officer and full-time mother, even though, to her surprise and embarrassment, her first reaction is relief, not anguish. What really hurts is her children's unhappiness at the breakup, and the growing realisation that, alone, she may lose the family farm. This is the story of the year after Jenny's old life falls apart; of family and farming, pet lambs and geriatric dogs, choko-bearing tenants and Springsteen-esque neighbours. And of, just perhaps, a second chance at happiness.
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The Peter Norman Story by Andrew Webster Peter Norman is the 'forgotten man' in one of the most powerful and influential photos of all time. Peter is in the photo because he won Australia a silver medal at the 1968 Mexico Olympics after running the 200 metres in 20.06 seconds. In 2018, 50 years on, it is still the Australian record. But Peter Norman is a hero to millions today not for the race or the record, but for what he did next. Hearing of US medallists John Carlos and Tommie Smith's plans to protest against inequality on the dais, Peter pinned an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge on his green and gold tracksuit and said: 'I'll stand with you.' That act of solidarity cost Peter Norman everything. All three men were cast into exile, their lives sent spiralling. But it secured a unique friendship, and a legend that, in its 50th anniversary, is more powerful than ever. This is the extraordinary story of the man behind the photo and a moment that changed the world. It's a strange odyssey of a working-class, Salvation Army-raised boy from Melbourne who became a global icon for equality and courage, yet who remained an enigma to even those closest to him. It's a story about taking a stand and inspiring people everywhere to stand with you. The story of a unique hero who has gone unsung for too long. The Peter Norman Story.
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Contact your librarian for more great audiobooks!
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