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Sydney Morning Herald
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Estranged sisters and a curious gift: 14 new books to get stuck into this month
It may be the start of winter and things outside are cooling down, but there's no loss of heat in the book world, with a bumper crop of books being published this month. This selection includes an astonishing memoir, speculative fiction, love and other disasters in the `90s and so much more. Salvage Jennifer Mills Picador, $34.99 In her fifth, speculative novel, the always imaginative Jennifer Mills plunges us into the lives of sisters Jude and Celeste. Jude is on an Earth plagued by climate disaster, war and antagonism, struggling to survive in the Freelands. Celeste, meanwhile, is trapped on some sort of spacecraft designed to help plutocrats escape the benighted world. But when something falls from the sky, we learn the full, human story of the estranged sisters. The War Within Me Tracy Ryan Transit Lounge, $34.99 In the second of her Queens of Navarre series, poet and novelist Tracy Ryan turns her focus from Marguerite of Navarre to her daughter, Jeanne d'Albret. It's a story of royal and religious conflict as Jeanne escapes an arranged marriage to find love with Antoine, with whom she reigned before the Counter-Reformation pitted them on opposing sides of the long-running French wars of religion. Ryan is working on a third instalment, To Share His Fortune. A Beautiful Family Jennifer Trevelyan Allen & Unwin, $32.99 There's an irony in the title of New Zealand writer Jennifer Trevelyan's much-anticipated coming-of-age debut as the narrator, 10-year-old Alix, discovers much more about her family and its secrets during a summer holiday in 1985. From Kahu, a boy she meets on the beach, she learns the story of Charlotte, a girl who drowned two years earlier and whose body has never been found. Together, they try to find out the truth of her death, which reveals truths not bargained for. A Different Kind of Power Jacinda Ardern Penguin, $55 Jacinda Ardern became prime minister of New Zealand at the age of 37, and the way she dealt with the travails of high office along with the many major crises in NZ won her international admiration. Just think of her humane response to the appalling attack on the Christchurch mosques. Is there really a different way for politicians − and others − to lead? She argues forcefully that kindness and empathy are crucial. Let's hope other leaders take note of her methods. Our New Gods Thomas Vowles UQP, $34.99 Whether Thomas Vowles becomes a new god of literature remains to be seen, but judging by this debut novel set in the queer world of Melbourne he can certainly write gripping fiction. Ash is new to town and has quickly been befriended by James, who takes him to a party where his boyfriend, the charismatic and mysterious Raf, is DJing. But when Ash decides to leave, he stumbles across Raf outside and what he witnesses him doing is unsettling. Soon Ash is mixed up in something he really doesn't understand. The Death of Stalin Sheila Fitzpatrick Black Inc., $27.99 Black Inc. has made a point of publishing crisply written short books and essays that dissect global and local issues. In The Death of Stalin − not to be confused with Armando Iannucci's satirical film − Australia's pre-eminent Soviet historian tells us about the immediate change of direction after March 5, 1953, that was driven largely by the appalling director of the secret police, Lavrentiy Beria. In the simultaneously published Bombard the Headquarters, Linda Jaivin chronicles the disasters of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Aftertaste Daria Lavelle Bloomsbury, $32.99 Daria Lavelle's first novel is a bit bonkers really. Kostya's beloved dad is dead, but suddenly he tastes his father's favourite Ukrainian dish, pechonka. Over the years, aftertastes of food appear 'in his mouth like messages', until he discovers that by preparing specific foods or drinks he can bring the dead back from the purgatorial food hall where they are marooned. So, Kostya opens a restaurant to ease them to their next stage of death – but then things go a bit berserk. Foreign Country Marija Pericic Utimo Press, $34.99 Another pair of estranged sisters. When Eva gets a surprise letter from Elisabeta at her new apartment in Berlin she's puzzled to find it contains an airline ticket back to Australia. They've been apart for years, but Eva sets off to the Blue Mountains only to find that Elisabeta is dead and she is left to sort the debris of her life. Tucked into an absorbing narrative about the interaction of past and the present are documents and photos to provide a visual contrast with the emotional discoveries that Eva makes about her sister. The Prime Minister's Potato and Other Essays Anne-Marie Condé Upswell, $29.99 Historian and museum curator Anne-Marie Condé says she meditates on 'how the past can be understood through the interactions of people, places and things'. Her titular essay in this diverse and rather lovely collection tells of a curious 1942 gift from one William Frith to John Curtin as a 'cure for your akes and Pains'. Other essays dwell on the Australian War Memorial, Barry Humphries' character Sandy Stone, and the man who owned the house outside which the school bus would drop Condé each afternoon. The Name of the Sister Gail Jones Text, $34.99 Gail Jones is becoming positively prolific − this is her fourth novel in five years. She has turned away from the literary figures of her previous two books to what might be called literary crime. Who is this 'Jane', found wandering at night on a highway near Broken Hill? Freelance journalist Angie sees a feature in the predicament of the unknown woman, while her detective friend Bev is in charge of the case. Both want to discover the backstory, 'the maw of possibilities, deep down and red'. New Skin Miranda Nation Allen & Unwin, $32.99 Miranda Nation has runs on the board writing and directing the 2018 thriller Undertow and writing the TV series Playing Gracie Darling, due later this year. Which is clearly quite a big one for her as now comes publication of her first novel, one that features an intense first love between two medical students in the '90s, the drugs, the sex, the parties and then flashing years forward to the consequences and emotional hangovers. It's all a question of timing. Things in Nature Merely Grow Yiyun Li Fourth Estate, $32.99, June 4 Yiyun Li's memoir is an account of the death of her two sons, Vincent and James, by suicide six years apart. It is remarkable for its clear-sightedness and sensitivity. The Chinese-born novelist argues that children have to have the space to become fully themselves, and writes: 'I loved them, and I still love them, but more important than loving is understanding and respecting them, and this includes, more than anything else, understanding and respecting their choices to end their lives.' Apple in China Patrick McGee Simon & Schuster, $36.99 June 4 Apple has got itself into something of a jam. As Financial Times journalist Patrick McGee puts it, the tech company's relationship with China 'has become politically untenable, yet the business ties are unbreakable'. Today, 90 per cent of all Apple's production takes place in China. With Apple's future 'inextricably linked to a ruthless authoritarian state', McGee also argues that today's China wouldn't be what it is without the company. Donald Trump may yet have more to say about all this. A Wisdom of Age Jacinta Parsons ABC Books, $34.99, June 6 Following on from A Question of Age, Jacinta Parsons delves into women's 'felt senses' to learn what it means to be human and how this understanding is changed by accumulated years. Through talking to many women around the country, she focuses on the disconnect between the way women who are ageing are treated in society and how they actually feel inside. Ageing, she writes, is not a malady that needs fixing, 'it needs for us to embrace it for what it offers us'.
The Age
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Estranged sisters and a curious gift: 14 new books to get stuck into this month
It may be the start of winter and things outside are cooling down, but there's no loss of heat in the book world, with a bumper crop of books being published this month. This selection includes an astonishing memoir, speculative fiction, love and other disasters in the `90s and so much more. Salvage Jennifer Mills Picador, $34.99 In her fifth, speculative novel, the always imaginative Jennifer Mills plunges us into the lives of sisters Jude and Celeste. Jude is on an Earth plagued by climate disaster, war and antagonism, struggling to survive in the Freelands. Celeste, meanwhile, is trapped on some sort of spacecraft designed to help plutocrats escape the benighted world. But when something falls from the sky, we learn the full, human story of the estranged sisters. The War Within Me Tracy Ryan Transit Lounge, $34.99 In the second of her Queens of Navarre series, poet and novelist Tracy Ryan turns her focus from Marguerite of Navarre to her daughter, Jeanne d'Albret. It's a story of royal and religious conflict as Jeanne escapes an arranged marriage to find love with Antoine, with whom she reigned before the Counter-Reformation pitted them on opposing sides of the long-running French wars of religion. Ryan is working on a third instalment, To Share His Fortune. A Beautiful Family Jennifer Trevelyan Allen & Unwin, $32.99 There's an irony in the title of New Zealand writer Jennifer Trevelyan's much-anticipated coming-of-age debut as the narrator, 10-year-old Alix, discovers much more about her family and its secrets during a summer holiday in 1985. From Kahu, a boy she meets on the beach, she learns the story of Charlotte, a girl who drowned two years earlier and whose body has never been found. Together, they try to find out the truth of her death, which reveals truths not bargained for. A Different Kind of Power Jacinda Ardern Penguin, $55 Jacinda Ardern became prime minister of New Zealand at the age of 37, and the way she dealt with the travails of high office along with the many major crises in NZ won her international admiration. Just think of her humane response to the appalling attack on the Christchurch mosques. Is there really a different way for politicians − and others − to lead? She argues forcefully that kindness and empathy are crucial. Let's hope other leaders take note of her methods. Our New Gods Thomas Vowles UQP, $34.99 Whether Thomas Vowles becomes a new god of literature remains to be seen, but judging by this debut novel set in the queer world of Melbourne he can certainly write gripping fiction. Ash is new to town and has quickly been befriended by James, who takes him to a party where his boyfriend, the charismatic and mysterious Raf, is DJing. But when Ash decides to leave, he stumbles across Raf outside and what he witnesses him doing is unsettling. Soon Ash is mixed up in something he really doesn't understand. The Death of Stalin Sheila Fitzpatrick Black Inc., $27.99 Black Inc. has made a point of publishing crisply written short books and essays that dissect global and local issues. In The Death of Stalin − not to be confused with Armando Iannucci's satirical film − Australia's pre-eminent Soviet historian tells us about the immediate change of direction after March 5, 1953, that was driven largely by the appalling director of the secret police, Lavrentiy Beria. In the simultaneously published Bombard the Headquarters, Linda Jaivin chronicles the disasters of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Aftertaste Daria Lavelle Bloomsbury, $32.99 Daria Lavelle's first novel is a bit bonkers really. Kostya's beloved dad is dead, but suddenly he tastes his father's favourite Ukrainian dish, pechonka. Over the years, aftertastes of food appear 'in his mouth like messages', until he discovers that by preparing specific foods or drinks he can bring the dead back from the purgatorial food hall where they are marooned. So, Kostya opens a restaurant to ease them to their next stage of death – but then things go a bit berserk. Foreign Country Marija Pericic Utimo Press, $34.99 Another pair of estranged sisters. When Eva gets a surprise letter from Elisabeta at her new apartment in Berlin she's puzzled to find it contains an airline ticket back to Australia. They've been apart for years, but Eva sets off to the Blue Mountains only to find that Elisabeta is dead and she is left to sort the debris of her life. Tucked into an absorbing narrative about the interaction of past and the present are documents and photos to provide a visual contrast with the emotional discoveries that Eva makes about her sister. The Prime Minister's Potato and Other Essays Anne-Marie Condé Upswell, $29.99 Historian and museum curator Anne-Marie Condé says she meditates on 'how the past can be understood through the interactions of people, places and things'. Her titular essay in this diverse and rather lovely collection tells of a curious 1942 gift from one William Frith to John Curtin as a 'cure for your akes and Pains'. Other essays dwell on the Australian War Memorial, Barry Humphries' character Sandy Stone, and the man who owned the house outside which the school bus would drop Condé each afternoon. The Name of the Sister Gail Jones Text, $34.99 Gail Jones is becoming positively prolific − this is her fourth novel in five years. She has turned away from the literary figures of her previous two books to what might be called literary crime. Who is this 'Jane', found wandering at night on a highway near Broken Hill? Freelance journalist Angie sees a feature in the predicament of the unknown woman, while her detective friend Bev is in charge of the case. Both want to discover the backstory, 'the maw of possibilities, deep down and red'. New Skin Miranda Nation Allen & Unwin, $32.99 Miranda Nation has runs on the board writing and directing the 2018 thriller Undertow and writing the TV series Playing Gracie Darling, due later this year. Which is clearly quite a big one for her as now comes publication of her first novel, one that features an intense first love between two medical students in the '90s, the drugs, the sex, the parties and then flashing years forward to the consequences and emotional hangovers. It's all a question of timing. Things in Nature Merely Grow Yiyun Li Fourth Estate, $32.99, June 4 Yiyun Li's memoir is an account of the death of her two sons, Vincent and James, by suicide six years apart. It is remarkable for its clear-sightedness and sensitivity. The Chinese-born novelist argues that children have to have the space to become fully themselves, and writes: 'I loved them, and I still love them, but more important than loving is understanding and respecting them, and this includes, more than anything else, understanding and respecting their choices to end their lives.' Apple in China Patrick McGee Simon & Schuster, $36.99 June 4 Apple has got itself into something of a jam. As Financial Times journalist Patrick McGee puts it, the tech company's relationship with China 'has become politically untenable, yet the business ties are unbreakable'. Today, 90 per cent of all Apple's production takes place in China. With Apple's future 'inextricably linked to a ruthless authoritarian state', McGee also argues that today's China wouldn't be what it is without the company. Donald Trump may yet have more to say about all this. A Wisdom of Age Jacinta Parsons ABC Books, $34.99, June 6 Following on from A Question of Age, Jacinta Parsons delves into women's 'felt senses' to learn what it means to be human and how this understanding is changed by accumulated years. Through talking to many women around the country, she focuses on the disconnect between the way women who are ageing are treated in society and how they actually feel inside. Ageing, she writes, is not a malady that needs fixing, 'it needs for us to embrace it for what it offers us'.
Nahar Net
27-05-2025
- General
- Nahar Net
Tens of thousands flock to see remains of Spanish saint who died in 1582
by Naharnet Newsdesk 27 May 2025, 15:17 They lined up to see her, silent and wonderstruck: Inside an open silver casket was Saint Teresa of Ávila, more than 440 years after her death. Catholic worshippers have been flocking to Alba de Tormes, a town ringed by rolling pastures in western Spain where the remains of the Spanish saint, mystic and 16th-century religious reformer were on display this month. "It gave me a feeling of fulfillment, of joy, and of sadness," said Guiomar Sánchez, who traveled from Madrid with her two daughters on Sunday, the last full day of the exhibit. Inspired by her mother's belief in the Carmelite nun, Sánchez praised the mystic's writings as being ahead of her time. Sánchez said she also came in part to honor her mother. "Seeing her was an inexplicable experience," Sánchez added. On Monday morning, the casket of the saint who died in 1582 was resealed and carried through the town streets, with pilgrims following the procession. It is unclear how many years — or decades — will pass before the church once again makes St. Teresa's remains visible to the public. Teresa was last displayed in 1914, when devotees had a single day to see the saint. This time, the display drew almost 100,000 visitors over two weeks, said Miguel Ángel González, the prior of the Discalced Carmelites of Salamanca. The casket that holds the saint's remains is barely 1.3 meters (4 feet) long. What is visible is a skull dressed in a habit with vestments covering other parts of the body, not all of which is intact. The saint's heart is kept in another part of the church, officials said. Other body parts — fingers, a hand and a jaw — are kept as relics in churches across Europe. Teresa is a towering figure from Spain's Golden Age and 16th-century Counter-Reformation. Her explorations of the inner life and meditations on her relationship with God were controversial, yet they have been held up over the centuries as a "profound treatise on spirituality," said José Calvo, a professor of theology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca who specializes in Medieval history. Many have venerated her. Former Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco is believed to have kept a relic of the saint's hand next to his bed. Last September, the newly elected Pope Leo XIV visited the saint's birthplace in Avila, an hour's drive from Alba de Tormes. Teresa's remains have also spawned memes online about the macabre nature of crowding around her centuries-old skull. In Alba de Tormes, church officials and experts downplayed such reactions, saying the display was nothing out of the ordinary for how Catholics have revered their saints for centuries. "It was just something people always did when they thought somebody might be a saint," said Cathleen Medwick, who wrote the book "Teresa of Avila, The Progress of a Soul." "And the fact that her body hadn't decayed very much was also considered a sign of her sanctity," Medwick added. Some worshippers this month were visibly moved. On Sunday, a group of nuns from India wiped away tears as they stood by the side of the casket and looked at the saint's remains behind a glass case. Gregoria Martín López, 75, climbed to an elevated part of the church behind the altar, hoping to get a better view from above of the diminutive saint's skull. "The saint for me is a thing of great strength. If they close her, I can say that I saw her," Martín said and with tears in her eyes, blew a kiss down to Teresa's relic as organ music filled the space.
Hindustan Times
26-05-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
This saint died 440 years ago. Now, thousands are lining up in Spain to see her body
Saint Teresa of Avila died over 440 years but Catholic worshippers still line up to see her remains kept inside an open silver casket. The remains of the 16th-century religious reformers and Spanish mystic have been kept in the town of Alba de Tormes. 'It gave me a feeling of fulfillment, of joy, and of sadness,' said Guiomar Sánchez, who traveled from Madrid with her two daughters on Sunday, the last full day of the exhibit. Inspired by her mother's belief in the Carmelite nun, Sánchez praised the mystic's writings as being ahead of her time. Sánchez said she also came in part to honor her mother. 'Seeing her was an inexplicable experience,' Sánchez added. On Monday morning, the casket of the saint who died in 1582 was resealed and carried through the town streets, with pilgrims following the procession. It is unclear how many years — or decades — will pass before the church once again makes St. Teresa's remains visible to the public. Teresa was last displayed in 1914, when devotees had a single day to see the saint. This time, the display drew almost 100,000 visitors over two weeks, said Miguel Ángel González, the prior of the Discalced Carmelites of Salamanca. The casket that holds the saint's remains is barely 1.3 meters (4 feet) long. What is visible is a skull dressed in a habit with vestments covering other parts of the body, not all of which is intact. The saint's heart is kept in another part of the church, officials said. Other body parts — fingers, a hand and a jaw — are kept as relics in churches across Europe. Teresa is a towering figure from Spain's Golden Age and 16th-century Counter-Reformation. Her explorations of the inner life and meditations on her relationship with God were controversial, yet they have been held up over the centuries as a 'profound treatise on spirituality," said José Calvo, a professor of theology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca who specializes in Medieval history. Many have worshipped her. Former Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco is believed to have kept a relic of the saint's hand next to his bed. Last September, the newly elected Pope Leo XIV visited the saint's birthplace in Avila, an hour's drive from Alba de Tormes. Teresa's remains have also spawned memes online about the macabre nature of crowding around her centuries-old skull. In Alba de Tormes, church officials and experts downplayed such reactions, saying the display was nothing out of the ordinary for how Catholics have revered their saints for centuries. 'It was just something people always did when they thought somebody might be a saint,' said Cathleen Medwick, who wrote the book 'Teresa of Avila, The Progress of a Soul.' 'And the fact that her body hadn't decayed very much was also considered a sign of her sanctity," Medwick added. Some worshippers this month were visibly moved. On Sunday, a group of nuns from India wiped away tears as they stood by the side of the casket and looked at the saint's remains behind a glass case. Gregoria Martín López, 75, climbed to an elevated part of the church behind the altar, hoping to get a better view from above of the diminutive saint's skull. 'The saint for me is a thing of great strength. If they close her, I can say that I saw her,' Martín said and with tears in her eyes, blew a kiss down to Teresa's relic as organ music filled the space.
26-05-2025
- General
Tens of thousands flock to see a Spanish saint's remains more than 440 years after her death
ALBA DE TORMES, Spain -- They lined up to see her, silent and wonderstruck: Inside an open silver coffin was Saint Teresa of Ávila, more than 440 years after her death. Catholic worshippers have been flocking to Alba de Tormes, a town ringed by rolling pastures in western Spain where the remains of the Spanish saint, mystic and 16th-century religious reformer were on display this month. 'It gave me a feeling of fulfillment, of joy, and of sadness,' said Guiomar Sánchez, who traveled from Madrid with her two daughters on Sunday, the last full day of the exhibit. Inspired by her mother's belief in the Carmelite nun, Sánchez praised the mystic's writings as being ahead of her time. Sánchez said she also came in part to honor her mother. 'Seeing her was an inexplicable experience,' Sánchez added. On Monday morning, the coffin of the saint who died in 1582 was resealed and carried through the town streets, with pilgrims following the procession. It is unclear how many years — or decades — will pass before the church once again makes St. Teresa's remains visible to the public. Teresa was last displayed in 1914, when devotees had a single day to see the saint. This time, the display drew almost 100,000 visitors over two weeks, said Miguel Ángel González, the prior of the Discalced Carmelites of Salamanca. The coffin that holds the saint's remains is barely 1.3 meters (4 feet) long. What is visible is a skull dressed in a habit with vestments covering other parts of the body, not all of which is intact. The saint's heart is kept in another part of the church, officials said. Other body parts are kept as relics — fingers, a hand and a jaw — in churches across Europe. Teresa is a towering figure from Spain's Golden Age and 16th-century Counter-Reformation. Her explorations of the inner life and meditations on her relationship with God were controversial, yet they have been held up over the centuries as a 'profound treatise on spirituality," said José Calvo, a professor of theology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca who specializes in Medieval history. Many have worshipped her. Former Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco is believed to have kept a relic of the saint's hand next to his bed. Last September, the newly elected Pope Leo XIV visited the saint's birthplace in Avila, an hour's drive from Alba de Tormes. Teresa's remains have also spawned memes online about the macabre nature of crowding around her centuries-old skull. In Alba de Tormes, church officials and experts downplayed such reactions, saying the display was nothing out of the ordinary for how Catholics have revered their saints for centuries. 'It was just something people always did when they thought somebody might be a saint,' said Cathleen Medwick, who wrote the book 'Teresa of Avila, The Progress of a Soul.' 'And the fact that her body hadn't decayed very much was also considered a sign of her sanctity," Medwick added. Some worshippers this month were visibly moved. On Sunday, a group of nuns from India wiped away tears as they stood by the side of the coffin and looked at the saint's remains behind a glass case. Gregoria Martín López, 75, climbed to an elevated part of the church behind the altar, hoping to get a better view from above of the diminutive saint's skull. 'The saint for me is a thing of great strength. If they close her, I can say that I saw her,' Martín said and with tears in her eyes, blew a kiss down to Teresa's relic as organ music filled the space.
